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FINLAND 

ITS    PUBLIC   AND    PRIVATE    ECONOMY 


V'e.^'^^ 


FINLAND 

ITS  PUBLIC  AxNTD  PRIVATE 
ECONOMY 


BY 


N.    C.    FREDERIKSEN 

FORMERLY    PROFESSOR    OF    POLITICAL    ECONOMY    AND 
FINANCE    IN    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    COPENHAGEN 


LONDON 

EDWARD    ARNOLD 

^ubIiBl)cr  to  t{)c  UntJia  ©fBcr 
1902 


NOTE  I 

For  the  English  edition  of  this  work — which 
appears  simultaneously  in  French  and  in  Danish — 
/  am  indebted  in  the  highest  degree  to  Mr.  Edward 
H.  Cooper  of  London^  and  Dr.  J.  N.  Reuter  of 
Helsingfors^  for  their  advice  and  careful  co-operation 
not  only  in  respect  of  the  English  language^  hut  also 
in  regard  to  numerous  details  of  facts.,  and  general 
clearness  and  correctness  of  expression. 

N.  C.  F. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   I 
PECULIARITIES    OF   FINNISH    CIVILISATION 


PA0K3 


Aristotle  on  Northern  agricultural  nations— Scandinavian  in- 
fluence on  European  civilisation— Ancient  inhabitants  of 
Finland  —  Settlement  of  the  Finns  —  Lapps —Gipsies- 
Crusades  in  Finland  —  Swedish  freedom— Difference  in 
language  —  Importance  of  the  Swedish  language— Limita- 
tions of  old  settlements— Settlements  in  the  interior— 
"  Birkarlar  "—Small  number  of  parishes— Small  population 
in  former  times— Famines— Advantages  of  the  climate- 
Progress  in  wealth— Comparison  with  the  United  States        .   1-16 


CHAPTER   II 

THE    AGRICULTURAL    CLASSES 

The  peasantry  in  Northern  countries  —  Poverty  of  Finnish 
peasants— Great  peasant  farms  in  the  West  and  South— In 
Savolaks  and  Carelia—"  Savu-pirtti  "— Origin  of  these  — 
Buildings  in  wood  and  stone— Bath-houses— Area  and  price 
of  farms— Village  communities— Torps  and  torp-holders— 
Form  of  payment  by  torp-holders— New  legislation—"  Back- 
stugusittare  "— "  Inhysingar"— Other  agricultural  labourers 
—Classes  on  the  islands— The  large  farms— Joint-stock  com- 
panies-Renting of  land— Bostiillen- Ecclesiastic  farms— No 
privileged  class 17-1^ 

CHAPTER   III 

THE    LAND    LAWS    OF    FINLAND 

Free  development— Enclosures  —  Settlements  in  the  forests- 
Right  of  settling— Torp-holders  under  the  Crown—"  Krono- 
hemman  "—Community  of  possession— Burning  of  forests  by 


vi  CONTENTS 

PAORS 

associations  of  peasants — Russian  donation-estates  —  Op- 
pression of  peasants — Re-union  of  Viborg  with  Finland — 
Full  rights  of  property  for  the  Nobles— Modern  example  of 
mediasval  development — Purchase  of  donation-estates  by  the 
government — Conditions  of  re-sale  to  the  tenants — Com- 
parison vsrith  Ireland — Land  for  the  landless  population — 
Permission  to  sub-divide  the  land — Land  bought  by  town- 
folk —  Loans  from  public  funds — Development  of  credit — 
Promise  of  land  by  Russian  pedlars —  New  fund  for  the 
benefit  of  the  landless — Cottages  for  working  men         .         34-52 

CHAPTER   IV 

METHODS   AND    CONDITIONS    OF   AGRICULTURE 

Soil — Increase  of  area — Climate— Barley — Rye — Wheat — Oats- 
Drying  processes — Export  of  rye  for  seed  —  Buckwheat  — 
Hemp — Flax — Turnips — Grasses — Natural  grasses — Produc- 
tion of  grain — Sowing  in  burnt-over  forests — Burning  of 
grass  lands — Rotation  of  crops — Artificial  manure — Agricul- 
tural implements— Import-duty  on  these — Horses — Export  of 
horses — Sheep — Reindeer — Cows — Swine — Duty  on  maize — 
Value  of  domestic  animals — Dairy-business — Frozen  cream  — 
Great  future  for  dairy-business  —  Unwise  suppression  of 
margarine — Astonishing  proposition  from  Russian  quarters — 
Total  of  agricultural  pruduce — Wise  government  assistance 
— Agricultural  associations — Institution  for  lending  money 
to  co-operative  associations — Ordinary  credit — Development 
of  the  Lapmark — Public  funds 53-73 

CHAPTER   V 

FORESTRY 

Extent  of  the  forests — Future  of  the  country — Soil — Location  of 
the  forests  in  the  highlands — Pine — Fir — Birch — Alder — 
Aspen — Other  trees— Berries — Waste  of  wood— Cultivation 
by  burning  the  woods — Useful  burning — Tar  manufacture — 
Saw-mills — Export  of  other  forms  of  wood — Pulp  and  paper 
— Progress  of  export  of  wood — Destruction  of  private  forests 
— The  peasants  and  the  woods — Duty  on  export  of  wood — 
Enclosure — Common  woods — Control  of  private  owners — 
Prejudice  against  commerce  —  Joint-stock  companies  as 
owners — Fire  and  wind — Damage  by  cattle — Peculiar  situ- 
ation in  the  North — Crown  forests — Establishing  a  forest 
administration — Instruction  in  forestry — Question  of  separat- 


CONTENTS  vii 

PAOKS 

ing  lands  for  agricultural  purposes — Mercantile  ideas — Pur- 
chase of  forests — Question  of  colonisation — Necessary  work  — 
Public  farms  —  Value  of  government  forests  —  Output — 
Reason  of  forest  destruction — Principles  of  forest  administra- 
tion— Comparison  with  other  countries — Value  of  the  lumber 
business  to  the  country 74-110 

CHAPTER   VI 

MINING  AND  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES 

General  character  of  mines  and  manufactures — Granite — Lime- 
stone— Brick  kilns — China,  earthenware,  &c. — Glass — Gold 
— Copper — Iron  ore — Pig  iron — Smelting  and  rolling-mills — 
Nails  and  other  forged  products — Doubtful  future — Use  of 
steel  and  pig  iron  —  Engineering  works  and  shipyards — 
Imports — Protection — Private  works— Artisans  working  in 
metals — Calcium  carbide  and  chloride  of  potash — Chemical 
products  of  wood — Leather — Soap  and  candles — Matches — 
Flour  mills—  Sugar  —  Bakeries  —  Distilleries  —  Breweries — 
Tobacco — Printing  — Cotton  industry —  Linen — Woollens  — 
Hosiery  and  knitted  goods —Ready-made  clothes — Question 
of  the  productive  character  of  the  textile  industries — Com- 
parison with  Russia  —  Privileges  for  Tammerfors  —  Saw- 
mills— Planing-mills  and  cabinet-making — Bobbins — Pulp 
and  paper — Factories — Total  industrial  progress — Artisans — 
Wages — Women — Children's  work — Insurance  against  acci- 
dents— Associations,  &c. —  Household  industry — Personal 
capacity —  Industrial  liberty — Water  power  —  Privileges — 
Question  of  tariff  union  with  Russia       ....       111-152 

CHAPTER   VII 

COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  AND  FISHERIES 

Progress  of  commerce — Composition  of  the  export — Increase  in 
consumption — Trade  with  Russia— Trade  with  England — 
Germany —  Denmark  —  Sweden —  Norway —  France — Spain- 
Holland  and  Belgium — United  States — Trade  in  butter — 
Commerce  and  the  tariff — Treaty  with  Spain — Relations 
with  Russia — Present  arrangement — Bad  consequences  of  a 
tariff  union — Explanation  of  the  surplus  import — Commercial 
marine — Clearance  of  ships — Fishing  marine — Treatment  of 
fish — Fishery  legislation — Artificial  fish  cultivation— Coast 
of  the  Polar  Sea  and  of  the  White  Sea — Finnish  migrations 
to  the  sea — Utilisation  of  the  Russian  coast  by  Finlanders    153-184 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VIII 

MONEY  AND   BANKING 

PAGES 

Connection  between  money  and  the  banking  system — Swedish 
money — Establishment  of  the  Bank  of  Finland — Silver 
money,  1840-54 — Principles  of  administration  in  the  Bank 
of  Finland — Final  introduction  of  silver  standard — Gold 
Standard  Act — Final  organisation  of  the  Bank— Object  of 
the  Bank's  activity — Character  of  the  private  banks — Aboli- 
tion of  private  note-issue — Mistake  made  by  the  Bank  of 
Finland — Banking  law  of  1886 — Foreningsbanken — Nordiska 
Aktiebanken — Other  banks — Statement  of  the  Bank  of  Fin- 
land— Statements  of  the  private  banks — The  banks  during 
the  period  of  expansion  and  restriction — In  the  sixties — The 
beginning  of  the  seventies — Last  half  of  the  seventies — The 
eighties — Bad  times  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineties — Ex- 
pansion of  business — Contraction — Situation  of  the  Treasury 
— Mortgage  Association  of  Finland — Mortgage  bank  for  the 
cities — Mortgage  departments  in  the  banks — No  Stock  Ex- 
change— Savings  banks — Warehouses  for  grain — Insurance — 
Fire  insurance — Insurance  against  accidents — Personal  acci- 
dents— Life  insurance       .        .         .        .        .        .        .      185-226 


CHAPTER  IX 

MEANS   OF  COMMUNICATION 

Waterways — Rapids — Canals — Importance  for  the  lumber  export 
— Floating — Direct  interest  of  the  government — Navigation 
on  the  sea — Roads  in  old  times — Recent  construction  of  roads 
— First  construction  of  railroads — Question  of  private  railways 
— Construction  in  rich  or  poor  parts  of  the  country — Cost  of 
building — New  lines — Total  extent  of  ihe  railways — Con- 
struction of  private  railways  continued — Passenger  traffic — 
Goods  traffic — Result  of  low  tariff — Interest  on  the  capital 
— Increase  in  gross  revenue  an  argument  in  favour  of  govern- 
ment railways — Cheapest  capital  obtained  by  the  government 
— Beginning  of  the  post — Modern  postal  reform — Increase  of 
postal  matter — Transfer  to  Russian  Department  of  posts  and 
telegraphs — Obligation  to  carry  travellers — Russian  telegraph 
— The  Finnish  railroad  telegraph — Telephone         .        .      227-246 


CONTENTS  ix 

CHAPTER  X 
THE   EXCHEQUER  AND   CIVIC   DUTIES 

PACKS 

Excellent  finance — Peculiar  character  of  the  budget— Present 
budget — Ordinary  revenue — Income  of  public  property  and 
works — Character  of  the  public  expenses — Public  debt — 
Voting  of  supply — Formation  of  separate  funds — Centralisa- 
tion of  finances — Reform  in  the  accounts — Local  funds  of 
general  utility — Pension  funds — State  assets — Public  credit 
in  relation  to  Russia — Church  revenues — Town  municipalities 
— Rural  Communes — Total  of  direct  taxes — Land  tax — Pay- 
ment in  kind — Personal  tax — Centonal — Tax  of  traders  in 
the  country  and  of  chemists — Export  duty  on  wood — Former 
income-tax  to  the  Crown — Income-tax  in  the  towns — Income- 
tax  in  rural  districts — New  propositions  to  impose  income- 
tax — Stamp  duties — Excise  of  alcohol  and  beer — Custom 
duties — Financial  possibility  of  reform — The  tariff  and  the 
Estates — Russia  and  the  tariff — The  old  Swedish  military 
organisation — Finland  after  the  union  with  Russia — Organi- 
sation of  1879 — Russian  attacks  on  the  military  organisation — 
Threatened  emigration — Actual  organisation — New  military 
laws 247-277 

CHAPTER   XI 

THE  GOVERNMENT  OF   FINLAND  AND   ITS   FUTURE 

Character  of  the  government — Central  administration — Local 
organisation — Election  of  officials — Lutheran  clergy — The 
Greek  Orthodox  Church — The  Communes — Higher  schools — 
Primary  schools — The  women — Associations — The  two  lan- 
guages— The  Russian  language — The  press — Finnish  way  of 
thinking — Finnish  legal  order — Income  of  the  people — Com- 
parison with  other  countries — Increase  in  income — Statistics 
of  population — Progress  of  the  industrial  and  commercial 
classes — Government  and  public  progress — Montesquieu  on 
good  government  and  rich  nations — Force  of  resistance — 
Bad  effects — Attack  on  the  legal  order    ....     278-300 

Index 301-306 

General  Map  of  Finland at  end 

Statistical  Maps  op  Finland 


AUTHORITIES    CONSULTED 


Atlas  de  Finlande.     Public  par  la  Societe  de  geographie  de  Fin- 

lande.     Helsingfors,  1899. 
Texte  de  r Atlas  de  Finlande.     Fennia.     Helsingfors,  1899. 
La  Finlande  au  igme  Siecle  decrite  et  illustree  par  une  reunion 

d'ecrivains  et  artistes  finlandais.     Helsingfors,  1900. 
Notices  sur  la  Finlande  publiees  a  I'occasion  de  I'Exposition  a  Paris, 

1900.     Helsingfors,  1900. 
Joseph  R.  Fisher  :  Finland  and  the  Tsars,  1809-99.    London,  1901. 
K.  E.  F.  Ignatius  :  Le  Grand-Duche  de  Finlande.     Notice  statis- 

tique.     Helsingfors,  1878. 
K.  E.  F.  Ignatius  :  Finlands  Geografi.     Helsingfors,  1881-90. 
Gabriel  Rein  :    Statistisk  Teckning  af  Storfurstendomet  Finland. 

Helsingfors,  1853. 

Bidrag  till  Finlands  officiella  Statisfik. 

1.  Handel  och  Sjofart.     17,  18  och  19.     Helsingfors,  1897, 

1898,  1900. 

2.  Finlands  ekonomiska  tillstand  i  aren  1891-95.     Hel- 

singfors, 1899. 
7.  A.    Sparbankerna.    8-9.    Sparbanksinspektorens  berattelser 
for  ar  1898-99.     Helsingfors,  1899  och  1900. 

17.  Forstvasendet,  Ny  Foljd.  5.     Forststyrelsens  berattelse 

for  ar  1897.     Helsingfors,  1899. 

18.  Industristatistik   14.   15.   16.      Aren  1897,   1898,   1899. 

Forra  Delen.     Bergshandtering  och  maskinindustri  ; 
mynt-  och  kontrollvarket.     Senare  Delen.    Fabriker 
och  hand tvarkerier.     Helsingfors,  1899- 1900. 
22.      Fdrsakringsvasendet.      7-8.      Forsakringsinspektorens 
berattelser  for  aren  1 899-1 900. 

Statistisk  Arsbok  for  Finland.    Utgifven  af  Statistiska  Centralbyran 

16-21  Argangen.     Helsingfors,  1895- 1900. 
Relation  till  Finlands  ar  1900  forsamlade  Stander  om  statsverkets 

tillstand.     Afgifven  af  Finansexpeditionen  i  Kejserliga  Senaten 

for  Finland,  den  3.     Februari  1900. 
Komitebetankande   fran  komiten  for  undersokning  af  de  privata 

skogarna  i  landet,  1900. 
Komitebetankande  fran  komiten  for  afgifvande  af  utlatande  rorande 

de  principer,  pa  hvilka  statens  skogshushallning  horde  grunda 

sig,  190Q. 


AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED  xi 

Finska  Forstfdreningens  Meddelanden.     15-16.     1899-1900. 

Gosta  Grotenfelt :  Landtbruket  i  Finland.  En  ofversigt.  Hclsing- 
fors,  1896, 

Gosta  Grotenfelt :  Det  primitiva  jordbrukets  metoder  under  den 
historiska  tiden.     Helsingfors,  1899. 

J.  M'Crombie  Brown  :  Finland  and  Finland'.?  Forests.     Edin.  1889. 

Storfurstendomet  Finlands  Forfattnings-Samling. 

Lagberedningens  betankande  ang^ende  ombildning  af  den  direkta 
beskattningeu.     Helsingfors,  1898. 

Edv.  Bergh  :  Var  Styrelse  och  vara  Landtdagar  :  Aterblick  pa  Fin- 
lands  konstitutionella  utveckling  under  de  senaste  tjugo  5,ren. 
I  b.  1865-67.     2  b.  1867-82. 

Edv.  Bergh  :  Finland  under  det  forsta  &rtiondet  af  Kejsar  Alexander 
III.'s  Regering.     Helsingfors,  1893,  o.  fl. 

A.  Boxstrom:  Jemforande  befolkningsstatistik  med  sarskildtafseende 

a  fcirhallandena  i  Finland.     Helsingfors,  1891. 
Ekonomiska  Samfundet  i  Finland.      Foredrag  och  forhandlingar. 

1-4.     Helsingfors,  1897-99. 
J.  V.  Tallqvist :  Bidrag  till  belysande  af  det  svenska  myntets  his- 

toria  i  Finland  sedan  A,r  1898.     Siirtryck  ur  Vetenskapssocie- 

tetens  bidrng.     Helsingfors,  190x3. 
J.  V.  Tallqvist :  Blick  pa  Finlands  Banks  utlaningspolitik  sedan  ar 

1868.     Sartryck  ur  Vetenskapssocietetens  bidrag.    Helsingfors, 

1900. 
Felix  Heikel:  Finlands  Bank-  och  Penningevasen,  ett  bidrag  till  be- 
lysande af  den  ekonomiska  utvecklingen  4ren  1809-87.     Hel- 

sinf!;fors,  1888. 
Finlands  Statsbudget  sammanstald  till  ett  belt  och  arligt  medeltal 

for   Finansperioden,   1901-1904.      Enligt  uppdrag  af   Statsut- 

skottet  af  dess  delegerade. 
L.  M  :   Finansfragor.     Helsingfors,  1877. 
The  Diet  in  1900  :  Propositions  and  Petitions. 
JFarquardsen  :    Handbuch  des  ciffentlichen  Rechts  der  Gegenwart. 

L.    Mechelin  :    Staatsrecht    des    Grossfurstenthums    Finland. 

Freiburg  im  Breisgau.     1889. 

B.  Estlander  :  Bilder  ur  Donation sbdndernas  Historia  i  Ostra  Fin- 

land.    Helsingfors,  1899. 
Gustaf  Cygnaeus  :  K.  Finska  Hushallningssallskapet,  1797-1897. 
Axel  Liljenstrand  :    Finlands  Jordnaturer  och   aldre  Skattevasen 

jamte  ett  Blad  af  dess  kulturhistoria.     Helsinj^fors,  1879. 
Frithiof  Neovius  :  Handelsforh4llandena  mellan  Finland  och  Ryss- 

land.     Helsingfors,  1890. 
F.  von  Knorring  :  Gamla  Finland  eller  Wiborgf.ka  guvernementet. 

Abo,  1833. 
A.  J.  Sjogren  :  Anteckningar  om  forsamlingarne  i  Kemi  Lappmark. 

Hidsingfors,  1828. 
Kyosti  Jiirvinen  :  Landskomniunernas  i  Finland  Finance  statistik. 
Statistique  Financiere  de  Finlande.     Jyviiskylit,  1899. 


FINLAND 


lA  CHAPTER    I 

PECULIARITIES    OF    FINNISH    CIVILISATION 

According  to  Aristotle,  the  strongest  nations  and 
those  best  fitted  for  freedom  and  independence  are 
the  agricultural  races  of  the  North.  The  most 
northerly  civilised  country  in  the  world,  with  the 
exception  of  parts  of  Sweden  and  Norway,  is  Finland, 
and  three-quarters  of  its  population  live  by  agricul- 
tural pursuits.  Hungary  has  a  slightly  larger  rural 
population,  with  fewer  people  in  the  cities;  but  no 
other  country  has  a  larger  population  dependent  on 
agriculture. 

At  first  the  tropical  countries  of  the  East  showed 
more  rapid  development;  later  on  civilisation  passed 
to  the  milder  climate  of  the  Mediterranean.  The 
human  race  was  not  yet  strong  enough  to  overcome 
the  difficulties  of  a  northern  climate.  When  this 
occurred,  it  was  in  Western  Europe  that  the  highest 
form  of  civilisation  was  developed.  At  present  the 
highest  stage  of  all  has  been  reached  in  England  and 
the  United  States.  Nevertheless,  in  early  times  the 
Scandinavian  race  played  a  great  part  in  this  de- 
velopment. In  the  latter  part  of  the  ninth  century, 
when  the  other  Teutonic  races  were  becoming  to  some 
extent  less  hardy  under  the  influence  of  the  Christian 


2  FINLAND 

religion  and  of  a  more  or  less  centralised  Roman 
government,  the  Scandinavians  conquered  and  occu- 
pied more  than  half  of  England,  the  islands  and 
part  of  the  coast  of  Scotland,  and  the  harbours 
and  adjacent  country  in  Ireland.  They  founded  a 
remarkable  colony  in  Iceland,  whence,  later,  Green- 
land and  certain  coasts  of  North  America  ("  Vinland 
the  good,"  as  it  is  called  in  Icelandic  books)  were 
discovered.  From  Sweden,  Scandinavian  warriors 
founded  and  ruled  the  states  which  later  developed 
into  the  Russian  Empire,  whence  their  fleets  went 
down  to  Constantinople  and  the  Caspian  Sea ;  while 
at  the  same  time  other  fleets  were  descending  on  the 
Spanish  peninsula,  Morocco,  and  other  Mediterranean 
countries.  Indeed  the  Scandinavian  race,  always 
strong  in  its  freedom,  became  almost  irresistible  when 
it  had  learnt  the  arts  of  more  modern  warfare  from 
the  nations  with  whom  it  came  into  contact.  Their 
most  remarkable  contribution  to  mediaeval  civilisa- 
tion was  Normandy,  the  colony  which  they  finally 
formed,  after  much  devastation,  and  some  other  more 
short-hved  settlements,  on  the  coast  of  France.  The 
Franco-Norman  descendants  of  these  colonists  not  only 
conquered  England,  crossed  over  to  Ireland,  and 
organised  Scotland,  but  also,  after  founding  highly- 
civilised  kingdoms  in  Southern  Italy  and  Sicily,  and 
thence  making  further  conquests  in  the  Balkan 
peninsula,  in  Africa,  and  even  in  Asia  Minor,  were  the 
leaders  in  the  greatest  and  most  wonderful  movement 
of  mediaeval  times,  the  Crusades. 

About  a  hundred  years  before  the  first  Scandinavians 
spread  westwards,  the  Finns  had  moved  into  what  is 
now  known  as  Finland.  They  came  from  the  heart 
of  Russia,  where  they  had  been  settled  north  of  the 
central   Volga.     There   were    two    tribes,  differing    in 


FINNISH  CIVILISATION  3 

physical  appearance  and  mental  qualities ;  one,  the 
slightly  darker  and  more  vivacious  Carelians  of 
Eastern  Finland  and  of  the  adjoining  parts  of  Russia 
as  far  north  as  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia;  the  other  the 
lighter-haired  and  square-set  Tavasts  of  the  west.  Living 
in  the  south-west  corner  of  Finland  were  the  Finns 
proper  {egentliga  Finnar),  who  were  closely  connected 
with  the  Tavasts.  More  or  less  related  to  these  tribes 
were  some  other  Ural-Altaic  tribes,  who  remained  in 
the  interior  of  Russia,  and  also  some  tribes  who 
advanced  simultaneously  with  these  others  towards  the 
Baltic — the  Coures  and  Lives  (who  were  related  to  the 
Carelians),  and  the  Esthonians  (who  were  related  to 
the  Tavasts  and  Finns  proper).  It  has  been  suggested 
that  the  Kajans  {Kainulaiset  in^  Finnish,  Kvcens  in 
Norwegian ;  they  are  described  by  Othere,  the  Nor- 
wegian skipper  sent  northwards  to  explore  by  Alfred 
the  Great)  were  another  Finnish  tribe  living  in  the 
country,  according  to  the  commonly  accepted  view, 
before  the  coming  of  the  Carelians  and  Tavasts.  The 
name  of  these  Kvsens,  which  resembles  the  Swedish 
"  kvinna,"  the  Danish-Norwegian  "kvinde"  or  "kvind," 
and  the  English  "  queen,"  has  given  rise  to  numerous 
myths  about  a  northern  nation  consisting  of  Amazons, 
or  at  least  always  governed  by  a  woman.  We  certainly 
find  this  tale  several  hundreds  of  years  earlier  in 
Tacitus.  These  Kv?ens  are  now  generally  supposed 
to  be  identical  with  the  Biarmians  (the  modern 
"  Permiens "),  familiar  in  the  old  sagas,  and  either 
Carelians,  or  related  to  the  Carelians. 

Long  before  these  migrations  took  place,  it  is  certain 
that  southern  Finland  was  inhabited.  On  the  coast, 
and  on  the  navigable  rivers,  and  on  that  part  of  the 
Bothnian  coast  which  is  now  inhabited  by  Swedes,  we 
find   numerous   antiquities  of  the   same   kind   as   are 


4  FINLAND 

found  in  western  Europe,  especially  in  Scandinavian 
countries.  Many  belong  to  the  Later  Stone  Age,  a  few 
belong  to  the  Bronze  Age,  and  a  large  number  to  the 
successive  Iron  Ages.  The  most  eminent  antiquarian 
authorities  have  now  to  some  extent  modified  their  old 
theory  of  successive  immigrations,  in  which  an  entire 
people,  using  stone  implements,  was  replaced  by  a  popu- 
lation using  bronze ;  or  they  believe  at  least  that  for 
some  thousands  of  years  before  Christ  a  Teutonic  race 
inhabited  parts  of  Germany  and  the  greater  part  of  Scan- 
dinavia. It  is  probable  that  antiquities,  found  chiefly 
in  south-western  Finland  and  on  the  chain  of  islands 
which  connect  Finland  with  Sweden,  really  belong  to  an 
old  Scandinavian  race.  The  Swedish  authors  Montelius 
and  Wiklund  believe  that  such  a  race  actually  lived 
here  two  thousand  years  before  Christ.  Stone  imple- 
ments, belonging  to  the  Laplanders,  some  of  them  of 
a  very  recent  period,  have  been  found  in  the  interior 
of  Finland ;  but  these  differ  in  character  from  those 
found  in  the  coast  districts.  Again,  on  the  coast  east 
of  the  river  Kymmene,  the  Stone  Age,  which  lasted 
much  longer  in  that  region,  is  supposed  to  indicate  a 
Finnish  race.  Moreover,  while  a  large  number  of 
words  of  Teutonic  origin,  found  in  varying  numbers  in 
the  different  Western-Finnish  languages,  are  to  some 
extent  borrowed  from  the  Goths  (so  that  it  is  obvious 
that  somewhere  the  Finns  have  been  in  close  relation 
with  the  Goths),  yet  the  greater  part  have  been  adopted 
into  the  Finnish  language  from  the  Scandinavian, 
before  the  latter  was  divided  into  separate  languages. 
Montelius  and  Wiklund  think  it  possible,  and  even 
probable,  that  such  a  contact  between  the  Scan- 
dinavians and  the  Finnish  tribes  took  place  in 
southern  Finland.  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that 
the  truth  about  these  prehistoric  populations  is  not 


FINNISH  CIVILISATION  5 

quite  clear.  We  can  only  guess  that  part  of  the 
present  Scandinavian  population  of  Finland  is  de- 
scended from  Scandinavians  who  were  there  some 
thousand  years  before  the  Finns  arrived.  What  is 
certain  is  that  some  Finnish  tribes  were  here  about 
A.D.  700. 

While  the  Tavasts  and  Carelians  did  not  differ 
greatly  at  first,  and  soon  amalgamated  in  certain  parts 
of  the  country,  the  Lapps  or  Laplanders  remained 
an  entirely  separate  race.  Their  language  resembles 
Finnish,  as  it  does  other  Ural-Altaic  languages ;  but 
they  themselves  are  totally  different  in  physical  appear- 
ance, mental  development,  and  manner  of  life.  They 
seem  to  have  got  their  language  from  their  more 
civilised  neighbours.  They  are  Arctic  nomads ;  while 
the  Finns,  even  when  they  first  came  into  the  country, 
had  domestic  animals  and  some  knowledge  of  agri- 
culture, as  may  be  seen  in  their  old  national  epics,  the 
Kalevala.  The  Lapps  came  early  into  the  countrj', 
and  at  a  later  period  were  to  be  found  in  the  interior ; 
but  they  invariably  retired  northwards  when  the  Finns 
advanced,  and  rarely  amalgamated  with  them  in  any 
way.  In  modern  times  the  Lapps  are  more  settled — 
though  exclusively  in  the  north — and  often  take 
service  with  the  Finns,  so  that  more  admixture  takes 
place ;  but  the  total  Lapp  population  in  Finland  is 
only  about  one  thousand,  and  most  of  the  reindeer 
(formerly  almost  exclusively  the  property  of  the  Lap- 
landers) belong  now  to  the  Finns.  Only  a  small  number 
of  Lapps  continue  to  move  about  with  these  animals, 
which  are  admirably  adapted  to  this  northern  climate. 
The  Gipsies  of  Finland  are  more  numerous  than  the 
Lapps,  but  less  amenable  to  control ;  they  came  from 
Sweden  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  now  number  nearly 
two  thousand.     In  modern  Sweden  they  hardly  exist, 


6  FINLAND 

and  their  wanderings  in  the  remote  eastern  districts  of 
Finland  testify  to  the  backwardness  and  superstition 
prevaiHng  in  that  part  of  the  country. 

It  was  the  last  period  of  the  Crusades  which  intro- 
duced Swedish  culture  into  Finland.  In  1006,  Olaf 
Haraldson — St.  Olaf,  later  on  a  king  and  popular  saint 
of  Norway — was  in  southern  Finland ;  and  St.  Olaf's 
Saga  speaks  of  old  Swedish  kings  who  had  power  in 
Finland  and  Carelia  ("  Kyrialand  ").  The  "  law-man  " 
Thorgny  tells  Oluf  Skotkonung  that  the  men  of 
Sweden  would  gladly  accompany  him  to  the  East,  if 
he  would  follow  the  example  of  his  ancestors  and  go 
there  instead  of  harrying  the  Norwegians.  Olufs 
daughter  Ingegjerd  is  finally  married  to  Jaroslav  of 
Russia,  and  obtains  as  a  dowry  Ingermanland,  which 
is  governed  in  her  name  by  her  foster-father,  Jarl 
Ragnvald  of  Westgotland,  the  friend  of  the  Nor- 
wegians. The  stories  about  the  crusade  of  King  Erik 
the  Saint,  Jedvardson,  Jarl  Guttorm  (the  same  name 
as  that  of  the  Danish  King  Godorm  or  Gudrum  in 
England),  and  of  Bishop  Henrik  (an  Englishman  by 
birth)  to  Finland  proper,  and  particularly  to  the  district 
of  Abo,  may  be  for  the  most  part  only  a  legend. 
There  is  a  story  that,  after  the  visit  of  the  Papal 
legate,  Nicholas  of  Albano,  to  Sweden,  Henrik  went 
over  to  Finland,  where  he  was  killed  the  following 
year  (11 58),  and  that  after  him  Bishop  Rodulf  was 
taken  prisoner  and  killed  by  the  Carelians  in  1178. 
At  all  events,  Birger  Jarl  went  a  hundred  years  later 
into  Tavastland,  where  he  built  the  castle  of  Tavaste- 
hus.  A  little  later,  in  1293,  the  Marsk  (or  Marshal) 
of  Sweden,  Torgils  Knutson,  sailed  round  to  Carelia, 
whose  people  had  already  established  communication 
with  Novgorod;  and  there  he  built  the  castle  of 
Viborg,    where    it    is    said    that    fourteen     Carelian 


FINNISH  CIVILISATION  7 

"gislalag"  or  village-communities  submitted  to  him. 
This  is  supposed  to  indicate  that  the  Finns  had  some 
political  organisation,  though  not  precisely  the  "hiirads" 
or  "  hundreds  "  of  the  Scandinavians.  Already,  before 
this,  the  English-born  Bishop  Thomas  had  been  in  the 
country,  and  is  said  to  have  proposed  the  formation  of 
Finland  into  a  separate  principality  under  the  Pope, 
in  the  same  manner  as  some  other  ecclesiastical 
states  further  down  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Baltic. 
Thomas  is  said  to  have  built  the  cathedral  of  xVbo, 
but  to  have  given  up  his  see  in  1245.  His 
successors  Bero  or  Biorn,  Ragvald  or  Ragnvald,  and 
Catillus  or  Ketil,  bear  names  which  are  familiar  in  the 
Danish-Norwegian  conquest  of  Northern  England  and 
Ireland,  as  well  as  among  the  Norman  chiefs  in 
northern  and  central  France.  During  the  same  period 
the  Danish  kings  carried  a  crusade  into  Esthonia,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  and  conquered 
the  Finnish  tribes  who  were  settled  there. 

The  conversion  of  the  Finns,  like  all  other  conver- 
sions in  those  days,  was  chiefly  effected  by  the  sword; 
but  there  was  one  great  difference  between  this  con- 
quest and  those  made  by  the  Crusaders  in  the  East,  or 
in  north-eastern  Germany,  or  in  the  Baltic  provinces 
of  Russia.  This  difference  lay  in  the  fact  that  the 
Swedes  were  a  nation  composed  of  freemen  only ;  like 
the  Danes  in  northern  England  three  centuries  earlier, 
they  were  all  free  cultivators  of  the  soil,  and  the 
freedom  of  the  peasants  or  agricultural  population  was 
from  the  first  the  basis  of  the  social  system  in  Finland, 
as  it  was  in  all  Scandinavian  countries.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  social  ideas  of  the  Normans  from  Normandy 
and  southern  Italy  had  been  largely  influenced  by 
France  and  by  other  countries  dominated  by  the 
Roman  law  and  by  mixed  Roman  and  Teutonic  insti- 


8  FINLAND 

ttitions ;  therefore    the    Normans    took    possession    of 
new  territories  as  feudal  lords. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  conversion  of  Finland 
was  due  to  the  differences  in  language.  It  has  been 
said  that  the  Swedes  ought  to  have  amalgamated 
with  the  Finns,  as  the  Normans  after  coming  to 
England  amalgamated  with  the  English  and  Danes. 
There  was,  however,  this  great  difference ;  that  the 
Swedes  were  not  (like  the  Normans  and  the  Danes  in 
England)  a  nationality  closely  connected  in  race  and 
language  with  the  people  whose  country  they  had 
conquered ;  they  can  better  be  compared  with  Nor- 
wegians and  Danes  or,  later  on,  Normans  and  English 
in  their  relation  to  the  Celtic  population  of  Ireland,  or 
with  Frenchmen  in  Alsace  or  Belgium.  So  gi-eat  was 
the  difference  that  there  was  no  possibility  of  a 
language  common  to  all,  as  in  England.  Not  only  did 
the  upper  class  generally  speak  two  languages,  but  an 
entirely  distinct  Swedish  population  was  settled  on 
the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Finland  in  Southern  Nyland, 
from  the  Kymmene  River  westwards,  and  in  Finland 
proper  as  far  as  where  the  mountain-chain  separates 
the  southern  coast  from  the  west,  and  on  the  groups 
of  islands  known  as  the  "skarg^rd."  On  the  other 
hand,  the  western  coast  of  Finland  proper  has  a 
population  chiefly  Finnish  ;  while  again  on  the  lower 
and  more  fertile  coasts  of  Southern  Ostrobothnia,  as 
far  north  as  Gamla-Karleby,  there  is  a  large  Swedish 
population.  The  total  number  of  Swedish  inhabitants 
of  Finland  amounts  to  nearly  one-seventh  of  the  whole 
population.  The  Swedes  on  the  southern  coast  may, 
like  those  on  the  other  side  of  the  Gulf  of  Finland — 
on  the  islands  of  Dago  and  Runo,  for  instance — have 
come  there  much  earlier  than  the  dates  mentioned 
above ;    and   according    to    the    last    researches,   even 


FINNISH  CIVILISATION  9 

before  400  B.C.,  at  which  date  the  Swedes  were, 
until  recently,  supposed  to  have  come  over  to  Svealand. 
Scandinavian  merchant-warriors  may  even  have  had 
dealings  with  the  Finns  a  long  time  before  the  Finns 
came  into  Finland,  a  supposition  borne  out  by  the 
number  of  words  relating  to  domestic  economy  which 
the  Finns  have  borrowed  from  the  original  Scandi- 
navian language.  Some  of  the  Swedes  in  Ostrobothnia 
evidently  came  later  from  different  parts  of  Sweden  ; 
finally  there  was  a  considerable  amount  of  change  and 
re-settlement  on  account  of  war,  pestilence,  and  famine. 
The  preservation  of  the  Swedish  tongue  among  the 
upper  classes  (who,  however,  also  speak  Finnish)  has 
certain  disadvantages ;  but  it  has  this  enormous 
advantage,  that  the  Finnish  nation,  unlike  all  other 
Ural-Altaic  people  except  the  Hungarians,  has  thereby 
participated  in  western  culture.  Not  only  did  the 
Finns  share  in  Swedish  freedom,  but  together  with 
the  Swedes  they  adopted  the  religious  reformation  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  receiving  the  education  of  the 
reformed  church,  whose  schooling  has  brought  about 
a  better  understanding  of  personal  responsibility,  in- 
dividual rights,  justice,  and  humanity.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  the  nations  which  did  not  accept  this 
change,  but  remained  part  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  or  of  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church  with  its 
dead  Byzantine  forms,  have  lagged  behind  in  this 
respect.  The  upper  classes  in  Finland,  like  the 
relatively  cosmopolitan  Swedes,  were  also  greatly 
influenced  by  the  period  of  free-thought  and  the  zeal 
for  national  reform  and  development  which  marked 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  crusades,  which  brought  the  Finns  into  the 
circle  of  civilised  nations,  came  late.  Putting  aside 
the  Kvsens  in  Northern  Ostrobothnia,  the  first  Finns, 


lo  FINLAND 

Tavasts  as  well  as  Carelians,  had  only  occupied  the 
southern  coast,  including  Southern  Tavastland,  and, 
generally  speaking,  the  valleys  of  the  great  rivers,  the 
Vuoksi  (which  flows  into  the  Ladoga  Lake),  the  Kym- 
mene  (which  flows  into  the  Gulf  of  Finland),  and  the 
Kumo  (which  flows  into  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia).  We 
find  evidence  that  there  were  formerly  more  farms 
and  villages  in  these  districts  than  at  present.  Up 
to  a  relatively  late  date  there  were  no  settlements 
beyond  the  region  of  the  great  inland  lakes  which  are 
found  in  the  southern  part  of  the  country.  They  had 
extended  no  farther  than  Savolaks,  the  district  com- 
prising the  islands  in  the  enormous  Lake  of  Saima  and 
other  neighbouring  lakes,  the  islands  on  the  Bothnian 
coast  as  far  as  Western  Satakunta  (a  name  which 
means  "  the  hundred  townships ")  and  those  on  the 
coast  north  of  this  country.  The  Swedes  had  settled 
here  after  the  crusades,  and  the  mediaeval  "  Stora  Rim 
Chronikan "  (Great  Rhymed  Chronicle),  speaking  of 
the  Crusades  of  Birger  Jarl,  in  1 249,  says :  "  They 
put  into  the  country  Christian  men ;  where  I  expect 
they  still  remain."  In  these  parts  we  meet  the  same 
geographical  names  as  in  Sweden,  Denmark,  and 
Danish  England,  such  as  Ulfsby,  Carleby,  and  others. 
On  the  other  hand,  Northern  Tavastland,  Eastern  Sata- 
kunta, and  the  interior  of  Ostrobothnia,  were  colonised 
at  a  much  later  date.  In  Northern  Carelia  the  scanty 
population  was  more  closely  connected  with  the 
Russian  principality  of  Novgorod.  In  the  year  1500 
there  was  only  one  Greek  church  built  in  these  parts ; 
at  that  time,  and  far  into  the  sixteenth  century, 
paganism  still  existed.  For  some  time  there  was 
raiding  and  fighting  between  the  Tavasts  and  Carelians, 
and  these  latter  sufiered  also  from  the  Russians,  who 
were   then    under    the    suzerainty    of   the    Mongolian 


FINNISH  CIVILISATION  ii 

Khans.  In  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
King  Magnus  Erikson  began  serious  negotiations  with 
the  Pope  and  his  legate  with  regard  to  a  general 
crusade  against  the  Russians.  In  1475,  at  the  time 
of  the  Scandinavian  Union,  the  great  Danish- Swedish 
chief,  Erik  Axelson  Thott,  built  the  castle  of  Olofsborg 
(now  the  centre  of  the  town  of  Nyslott)  on  a  little 
island  in  Savolaks ;  and  in  1605  the  country  still 
farther  north  was  made  secure  by  the  building  of  the 
castle  of  Kajaneborg,  also  situated  on  an  islet  in  the 
middle  of  some  rapids  near  the  great  UleS,  Lake.  It 
was  characteristic  of  these  days,  as  late  as  into  the 
fifteenth  century,  that  the  kings  had  left  the  whole 
government  of  the  northern  part  of  Sweden  and 
Finland  in  the  hands  of  guilds  of  traders  ("  Birkarlar," 
possibly  derived  from  the  word  "  by,"  meaning  "  town  "), 
who  lived  in  towns  on  the  coast.  The  old  kings  not 
only  left  in  their  hands  all  trade  with  the  Lapps,  then 
wandering  far  southwards,  but  also  permitted  Lapps  to 
be  distributed  among  the  different  guilds  of  Birkarlar 
who  had  a  right  to  tax  them ;  the  Birkarlar  them- 
selves, on  their  part,  paying  to  the  Crown  a  moderate 
tax,  consisting  of  a  few  skins.  At  the  time  of  the 
Reformation  there  were  in  all  Finland  only  141 
parishes,  and  only  a  very  few  in  the  immense  north- 
eastern part  of  the  country.  At  present  there  are 
366';  the  parishes  of  Finland  being  much  larger  in 
extent  and  population  than  those  in  other  Scandi- 
navian countries. 

A  glance  at  the  figures  of  the  population  show  how 
tardy  was  the  colonisation  of  the  country.  Even  at 
the  beginning  of  this  century  it  was  only  the  southern- 
most coast  and  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  which 
were  well  populated.  A  coloured  map,  showing  the 
density  of  the  population,  would  be  relatively  dark  just 


12  FINLAND 

there,  and  very  lightly  shaded  everywhere  else.  After 
the  present  Russian  frontier-line  had  been  definitely 
settled  by  Gustavus  Adolphus  at  the  peace  of  Stolbova 
in  1617  (it  was  drawn  across  the  watershed  in  the 
deserted  eastern  forests),  war  continued  to  decimate 
the  population,  first  because  they  sent  contingents  to 
the  victorious  armies  of  Sweden,  and  later  when  they 
were  defeated  and  their  country  devastated  by  Russia. 
After  the  "  Great  War "  with  Peter  the  Great,  which 
was  concluded  in  1 7  2 1 ,  the  population  had  been 
reduced  by  one-half  and  now  numbered  only  between 
200,000  and  250,000.  In  the  middle  of  the  century, 
at  the  end  of  the  "  Little  War "  with  Russia,  it  was 
not  much  more  than  400,000 ;  or,  including  the  part 
of  Finland  then  ceded  to  Russia  as  a  result  of  the  war, 
at  aU  events  under  500,000 ;  which  is  one-fifth  of  the 
present  population.  After  these  wars,  thousands  of 
villages  were  deserted ;  sometimes,  as  in  1 7  2  i ,  only 
old  men,  women,  and  children  being  left.  After  such 
periods,  it  is  true,  marriages  and  births  increased  con- 
siderably. In  1790,  at  the  conclusion  of  another  war, 
the  country  had  a  population  not  exceeding  800,000, 
or  a  third  of  its  present  number. 

It  was  not  war  only  which  reduced  the  population. 
The  country  suffered  periodically  from  famine  and  its 
consequent  diseases,  as  well  as  from  the  Great  Plague 
common  to  other  parts  of  Europe.  In  1509,  there 
was  an  appalling  famine,  another  extending  over  two 
years  occurred  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  others  towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
in  1693  and  in  1695-7.  In  three  years  a  third  of  the 
population  died.  In  1 7 1  o  the  plague  destroyed  whole 
villages.  In  1723,  1726,  1727,  and  1731,  after  the 
Great  War,  there  were  again  terrible  famines.  During 
the   twelve    months   between    September    1796    and 


FINNISH  CIVILISATION  13 

1797,  more  than  100,000  people  died.  Severe  frosts 
and  consequent  destruction  of  the  crops  occurred  in 
1856,  1862,  and  1867,  when  the  population  in  one 
year  decreased  by  100,000  souls.  It  is  especially 
during  the  month  of  August  that  frost  destroys  the 
growing  crops.  When  the  hoar-frost  melts  away  on 
sunny  mornings,  corn  and  vegetables  are  killed  in 
large  quantities.  Now,  however,  not  only  are  these 
frosts  less  frequent — owing  to  the  bogs  and  marshes, 
where  the  frost-fogs  linger,  having  been  drained — but 
with  the  extension  of  railway  and  other  communication 
it  is  easier  to  bring  relief  in  the  famine-periods.  The 
people  themselves  have  other  provision  for  famine 
years.  Such  occupations  as  tree-felling  and  forest- 
work^  generally  bring  a  certain  amount  of  income, 
especially  in  the  northern  districts,  so  that  the  pre- 
carious profits  of  agriculture  are  of  less  vital  import- 
ance. Finally,  the  great  development  of  dairy-farming 
makes  the  people  less  dependent  on  the  cultivation  of 
grain. 

Notwithstanding  the  frequent  frosts,  the  climate  of 
Finland  cannot  be  called  unfavourable  to  agriculture. 
This  is  due  to  the  Gulf  Stream,  which  mitigates  the 
rigour  of  the  climate,  though  not  to  the  same  extent 
as  on  the  Norwegian  coast.  Finland  is  also  surrounded 
by  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  and  the 
Lake  of  Ladoga,  three  great  reservoirs  which  retain  the 
warmth  of  summer  far  on  into  the  autumn.  The 
whole  country  slopes  to  the  south-west,  which  leaves 
it  exposed  mainly  to  the  warmer^  winds.  There  is,  of 
course,  a  great  difference  in  the  climate  in  different 
parts  of  the  country.  "When  it  is  time  for  straw- 
berries to  be  in  flower  in  Tammerfors,  the  Lapps  are 
driving  in  sledges."  At  Helsingfors  the  longest  day  and 
the  longest  night  are  not  more  than  i8i  hours,  which 


14  FINLAND 

15  not  very  different  from  the  rest  of  Europe.  At 
Uleaborg  they  are  22  hours,  and  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  Lapmark  they  are  two  or  three  months.  In  the 
far  north  the  concentrated  light  and  heat  of  the  long 
days  enable  barley  to  mature  in  from  six  weeks'  to  two 
months'  time. 

Now  when  peace  has  reigned  for  a  long  period ; 
when  the  country  has  had  a  relatively  good  and  for 
the  last  generation  even  an  excellent  government ; 
when  science  and  intellis^ence  have  bes^un  to  surmount 
the  difficulties  of  nature  ;  the  progress  and  the  increase 
of  production  and  wealth  in  Finland  are  really  wonder- 
ful. The  average  crops  are  double  what  they  were  a 
generation  ago.  The  export  of  butter  has  increased 
to  30  million  (Finnish)  marks,  and  of  wood  to  100 
milhons ;  and  statistics  show  an  export  of  1 8  million 
marks'  worth  of  cellulose  and  pulp  for  paper.  Wages  are 
still  very  low  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  but  in  other 
parts  they  have  more  than  doubled,  and  are  sometimes 
as  high  as  in  America.  The  number  of  paupers  in  receipt 
of  relief  has  decreased  in  eight  years  from  1 10,000  to 
68,000,  partly  owing  to  reformed  poor-law  adminis- 
tration, but  largely  owing  to  economic  progress. 
According  to  the  figures  of  the  income-tax  in  towns, 
small  incomes  have  increased  faster  than  large  ones, 
and  the  people  live  in  much  greater  comfort  than 
formerly.  Bread  mixed  with  pine-bark  and  chopped 
straw,  which  was  once  an  ordinary  article  of  food  in 
bad  years  and  was  generally  eaten  in  some  parts  of 
the  country,  is  now  no  longer  common.  The  ordinary 
fare  of  the  peasants  is  still  very  poor,  consisting  of  rye- 
J  bread  baked  twice  a  year,  sour  whey,  sour  milk,  and 
salt  fish ;  the  result  of  which  diet  is  catarrh  of  the 
stomach,  whose  most  familiar  symptom  is  the  sallow 
complexion  so  often  visible  in  the  country.     But  in 


FINNISH  CIVILISATION  15 

this  respect,  too,  there  is  great  improvement.  Com- 
merce in  general  is  showing  a  most  remarkable  rate  of 
progress.  In  a  few  years  the  import  and  exports  have 
doubled.  In  the  matter  of  foreign  trade,  Finland  now 
ranks  high  among  the  countries,  regard  being  had  to 
its  relative  population.  Some  of  the  export  statistics 
have  been  mentioned ;  among  items  of  import,  grain, 
meat  and  pork,  sugar,  coffee,  and  petroleum  show 
a  considerable  increase,  testifying  to  the  larger  con- 
sumption and  more  luxurious  living  of  the  people. 
Besides  these  articles,  metals,  coal,  and  other  materials 
used  in  manufacturing  and  agricultural  industry  are 
more  largely  imported.  Within  twenty  years  the 
deposits  in  savings  banks  have  quintupled,  the  capital 
of  the  commercial  banks  has  trebled,  and  the  deposits 
in  the  latter  have  been  multiplied  by  ten.  All  these 
statistics,  as  well  as  other  facts  about  which  we  shall 
speak  later,  point  to  the  same  conclusion. 

Finland  cannot  be  compared  with  America.  It  is 
still  a  poor  country  and  backward  in  many  respects. 
Also  its  progress  is  not  quite  on  American  lines.  Still 
it  reminds  us  in  many  ways  of  the  great  country  which 
is  progressing  more  rapidly  than  any  other  of  modern 
times.  Scandinavian  emigrants  of  the  peasant  class 
very  seldom  return  to  their  country  with  the  intention 
of  remaining  there ;  or  if  they  do,  they  nearly  always 
change  their  mind  and  go  back  to  the  United  States. 
With  the  Finlanders  it  is  different,  perhaps  partly  on 
account  of  the  difference  in  their  language,  which 
makes  it  less  easy  for  them  to  amalgamate  with  the 
Americans.  In  the  case  of  Scandinavians  it  must 
be  remembered  that  half  the  lan«mag:e  of  America  is 
nearly  the  same  as  their  own.  We  are  told,  however, 
that  the  case  is  the  same  with  the  Swedes  from 
Finkmd ;  and  the  reason  for  the  more  frequent  return 


1 6  FINLAND 

df  the  latter  to  their  native  country  may  very  well  be 
that  in  Finland  there  are  the  same  opportunities  for 
improvement,  cheap  land,  etc.,  as  in  the  United  States. 
Even  the  poverty  in  Finland  reminds  us  of  what  has 
been  said  about  Western  America :  "it  is  not  poverty 
but  incipient  wealth."  At  all  events  we  find  in  Fin- 
land an  admirable  capacity  for  improvement.  The 
question  still  remains  whether  this  will  be  hampered 
by  unnecessary  difficulties  coming  from  political 
sources. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE    AGRICULTURAL   CLASSES 

In  all  northern  countries  the  "  bonder,"  or  peasant- 
proprietors,  form  the  most  important  class.  They  are 
inferior  in  most  respects  to  the  tenant-farmers  of 
England  and  to  the  landowners  of  the  United  States ; 
but  they  are  superior  to  the  small  peasants  of  Southern 
and  Eastern  countries.  This  is  partly  due  to  the  fact 
that  in  the  North,  as  well  as  in  the  mountainous 
districts  of  Central  Europe,  it  is  impossible  to  make  a 
living  by  agriculture  on  a  very  small  scale,  whereas 
with  the  grapes  and  fruit-trees  of  the  sunny  South  it 
requires  little  labour  to  make  money  out  of  a  very 
small  piece  of  land.  This  superiority  is,  however,  also 
largely  due  to  the  social  history  and  the  peculiar 
development  of  the  people,  which  accounts,  too,  for  the 
fact  that  in  North-Western  Europe  we  have  this 
middle-class  of  peasant-proprietors.  In  Russia,  on  the 
contrary,  we  find  only  the  "  moujik " ;  while  in  Ger- 
many, east  of  the  Elbe,  as  well  as  throughout  the 
Russian  Baltic  provinces,  where  the  Germans  have 
conquered  Slav  lands,  we  find  large  estates,  generally 
occupying  from  a  third  to  half  of  the  laud  of  the 
district ;  and  in  some  parts  of  the  country  (in  Mecklen- 
burg, on  the  island  of  Riicfen,  and  in  parts  of  Pomerania 
and  North-Eastern  Holstein)  occup}Trig  nearly  the 
whole.  Without  doubt  this  middle-class  is  a  great 
source  of  strength ;  it  has,  for  instance,  enabled 
northern    nations    to    colonise    in   a   manner    entirely 

'7  B 


1 8  FINLAND 

different  from  that  of  Portugal  or  Spain.  It  is  a  mis- 
fortune when  any  class  is  too  self-contained,  too  im- 
mobile ;  and  the  recent  progress  of  the  peasantry  is  due 
to  its  diffusion  as  a  class.  But  its  existence  in  modern 
Finland  is  a  great  advantage  compared  to  the  social 
state  of  most  other  countries.  To  some  extent  it  is 
developed  from  the  old  village  community  with  its 
communal  cultivation  of  land ;  the  "  bonder "  shared 
in  this  common  cultivation,  while  the  large  farms 
of  the  gentry  and  the  small  plots  of  the  cottiers  were 
outside  the  common  lands,  the  former  being  too 
important,  the  latter  too  insignificant  to  form  part 
of  them.  But  this  middle-class  does  not  owe  its 
existence  solely  to  this  ancient  method  of  holding  and 
cultivating  land.  A  powerful  peasant  class  exists  in 
those  smaller  districts  of  the  North  which  were 
divided  into  isolated  farms  without  villages  or  common 
cultivation  and  property;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
does  not  exist  in  countries  where  the  old  communal 
cultivation  of  the  land  was  the  rule,  but  where,  before 
the  systematic  enclosure  and  distribution  of  mixed 
farm  lands,  the  possibilities  of  cultivation  favoured  the 
division  of  land  into  very  small  plots.  The  condition 
of  the  peasantry  is  mainly  determined  by  the  character 
of  their  agricultural  labour,  which  is  again  dependent 
on  natural  conditions.  In  reality,  the  largest  peasant 
farmers  came  into  existence  precisely  owing  to  this 
absence  of  village  communal  proprietorship ;  either 
because  the  old  settlement  took  place  on  already  exist- 
ing farms  (as  Meitzen  supposes  to  have  been  the  case  in 
Germany  west  of  the  Weser,  and  in  the  adjacent  parts 
of  Belgium  and  France,  where  Teutons,  according  to 
him,  entered  and  settled  down  in  old  Celtic  farms), 
or  the  first  colonisation  dates  from  a  time  when  the 
system  of  common  land  was  falling  into  disuse,  and 


THE  AGRICULTURAL  CLASSES  19 

the  poverty  of  the  land  led  to  the  occupation  of 
entirely  isolated  farms.  This  has  occurred  in  large 
districts  of  Scandinavia  and  Finland,  at  some  distance 
from  the  coast  or  on  the  hilly  watersheds  between  the 
rivers,  where  the  bonder  were  obliged  to  settle  down 
each  man  by  himself,  a  situation  which  has  contributed 
largely  to  their  strong  and  independent  character. 

Certainly  there  is  a  great  deal  of  poverty  in  Finland. 
This  is  the  case  especially  in  remote  districts  far  away 
from  civilisation,  where  the  forests  are  as  yet  untouched 
and  valueless.  It  is  also  the  case  in  the  eastern  parts, 
including  the  south-east,  where  the  peasants  have  been 
unluckily  bound  to  the  large  domains  given  away  by 
Russian  rulers  when  these  lands  were  taken  from 
Sweden  at  a  period  before  modern  reforms  had  begun 
to  take  effect.  The  manner  in  which  some  of  these 
peasants  live,  in  miserable  houses,  with  a  pig  in  the 
same  room  as  the  family,  is  sometimes  compared  to 
the  style  of  living  of  the  Russian  peasants.  But  even 
in  this  part  of  Finland  the  peasants  cannot  be  com- 
pared to  the  Russian  "  moujiks  "  ;  nowhere  in  Finland 
is  there  anything  like  the  class  of  poverty-stricken 
moujiks  which  we  find  in  large  parts  of  the  interior 
of  Russia.  The  Finns  always  live  much  better,  de- 
mand much  more  from  life,  and  have  not  the  habits 
of  the  miserable  Russian  peasants,  who  spend  most  of 
the  winter  asleep  on  their  great  ovens,  so  that  they 
may  still  further  reduce  their  already  small  consump- 
tion of  food.  Nor  do  we  find  in  this  eastern  part  of 
Finland  an  unusual  number  of  paupers  in  receipt  of 
relief,  a  fact  which  is  partly  due  to  the  facilities  for 
earning  money  afforded  by  the  neighbourhood  of  St. 
Petersburg.  A  relatively  large  amount  of  pauperism 
is  found  in  the  remote  country  districts,  where  the 
peasant  proprietors  themselves  in  bad  years  live  on 


20  FINLAND 

bread  made  from  bark  and  chopped  straw,  and  where 
the  few  sheep  they  slaughter  are  rarely  eaten  by  them- 
selves, or  at  most  only  supply  a  small  quantity  of 
salted  meat.  In  these  remote  districts,  even  in  the 
first  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  many  large  parishes 
had  no  communication  with  the  outer  world  except  by 
riding-tracks. 

Generally  speaking,  it  is  in  the  west  and  south  that  we 
find  large  peasant  farms  such  as  are  found  in  all  Scandi- 
navian countries.  The  dwelling-houses,  usually  painted 
red  with  white  window-casings,  give  an  impression  of 
prosperity.  The  house  has  a  considerable  number  of 
rooms,  with  fine  tiled  stoves  and  good  furniture,  the  walls 
being  covered  with  books  and  paintings  of  popular 
leaders,  of  the  recent  great  deputation  to  St.  Peters- 
burg, or  sometimes  of  members  of  the  Imperial  family 
who  have  been  regarded  as  friends  of  the  Finnish 
people.  The  peasant  proprietor  of  such  a  house 
would  have  four  or  five  horses,  twenty  or  thirty 
cows,  good  farming  implements,  possibly  of  English 
or  American  manufacture,  and  sometimes  even  a  small 
steam-engine.  The  houses  are  built  round  a  quad- 
rangle in  the  same  style  as  in  Denmark,  or  like  the 
old  houses  of  the  Franks.  In  the  west,  in  Ostro- 
bothnia,  where  the  farmers  are  generally  well-to-do, 
the  houses  usually  have  two  storeys.  Farther  in  the 
interior,  in  Tavastland  for  instance,  the  farmhouses  are 
often  grouped  together  into  villages,  especially  those 
on  the  shores  of  rivers  and  lakes ;  the  farm-lands,  how- 
ever, lying  scattered  some  distance  away.  The  houses 
are  not  built  round  a  quadrangle,  but  spread  over  a 
larger  space,  and  often  stand  in  long  rows.  Here,  as 
in  other  parts  of  the  country,  there  is  frequently  a 
separate  house  attached  to  each  farm  for  the  use  of 
the  pastor  or  other  visitors. 


THE  AGRICULTURAL  CLASSES  21 

As  a  rule,  the  farmers  are  less  wealthy  in  the  in- 
terior, but  even  there  they  are  well  off.  In  Savolaks, 
a  country  of  islands  and  peninsulas  and  innumerable 
large  lakes,  the  peasants  generally  choose  for  their 
house  a  fine  situation  near  the  water,  with  a  view 
over  the  lake  or  river.  Here  they  find  some  fishing, 
and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  these  lakes  their  corn  is 
less  likely  to  be  damaged  by  frost.  Occasionally  too, 
in  these  parts,  the  farmhouse  is  built  on  a  hill,  because 
the  frost  is  less  severe  than  in  low  foggy  places,  and  the 
land,  although  covered  with  boulders  and  small  stones, 
is  easier  to  cultivate  than  the  richer  lands  in  the 
valleys,  which  are  generally  wet,  and,  even  when  they 
are  drained,  have  often  a  substratum  of  large  flat 
stones.  Here,  too,  the  houses  are  often  unpainted, 
as  in  the  poorer  parts  of  Sweden  and  Norway.  The 
acreage  under  cultivation  is  small,  but  the  pastures  on 
the  site  of  the  burnt-down  forests  are  relatively  rich. 
The  peasants  here  have  always  been  good  butter- 
makers,  the  butter  having  a  fine  flavour  due  to 
the  aromatic  herbs  in  the  pasture  lands.  They  have 
fish,  too,  and  mutton,  and  in  parts  of  Carelia  there 
is  better  bread  than  is  to  be  found  in  the  rest  of 
Finland — bread  baked  once  or  twice  a  week,  and  not 
as  elsewhere  a  few  times  a  year  only.  Here  in  Carelia 
many  of  the  farms  are  "  krononatur " ;  that  is,  the 
farmers  are  hereditary  tenants  of  the  Crown  with  a 
right  of  sale.     We  shall  refer  to  this  again  later. 

In  the  eastern  part  of  the  country  we  still  find  a 
certain  number  of  "  savu-pirtti "  or  "  smoke-cottages," 
a  few  of  which  are  also  found  in  the  north  and  in 
other  parts  of  the  countr}'-.  Formerly  they  were  quite 
common,  now  they  number  less  than  12,000.  We 
hear  of  the  same  kind  of  house  in  old  Scandinavia, 
in  Ireland,  and  elsewhere.     It  has  an  open  fireplace. 


22  FINLAND 

and  the  smoke  is  let  out  by  openings  in  the  roof,  or  in 
the  wall  just  below  the  roof.  There  are  no  windows, 
and  the  smoke  usually  forms  a  dense  cloud  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  room,  the  air  below  being  warm  and 
clear.  But  the  wind  drives  the  smoke  downwards,  and 
eye  diseases  are  frequent  where  this  kind  of  house 
exists.  When  the  peasant  himself  lives  in  a  smoke- 
cottage,  he  has  generally  another  building  for  the  re- 
ception of  strangers. 

The  origin  of  the  word  "  savu-pirtti "  is  not  without 
interest.  The  word  "  kota  "  or  "  cuda  "  (a  hut),  which 
is  seen  in  the  English  word  "  cottage,"  is  common  in 
the  Finnish  language ;  and  round  huts  are  still  in  use 
among  certain  Finnish  tribes  in  the  east.  The  word 
"  pirtis,"  which  occurs  in  "  savii  (smoke)  pirtti,"  is  sup- 
posed to  come  from  the  Lithuanians  and  Letts,  among 
whom  it  means  "  bath-house."  Like  the  Finns  to-day, 
and  unlike  the  Russians,  these  people  made  free  use 
of  the  bath.  The  pirtis  was  used  among  them  as  a 
bath-house,  as  well  as  a  drying-house  for  grain-sheaves  ; 
and  some  of  the  Esthonians  still  use  it  for  both  pur- 
poses. According  to  this  origin  of  the  word,  this  form 
of  building  is  supposed  to  have  been  learnt  in  very  old 
days  from  the  Lithuanians  and  Letts,  just  as,  later,  the 
Finns  learned  most  of  their  domestic  economy  from  the 
Scandinavians. 

The  abundance  of  wood  is  a  great  feature  in  the 
domestic  economy  of  the  Finnish  peasant.  The  forest 
frequently  provides  a  considerable  part  of  his  income, 
in  some  districts  the  largest  part.  As  in  other  forest 
countries,  he  uses  wood  for  everything,  often  with 
great  extravagance.  He  burns  an  enormous  quantity, 
and  spends  much  labour  in  carting  and  chopping  it. 
The  houses  are  built  of  wood,  chiefly  of  solid  timber, 
and  not  of  boards,  as  in  Sweden  and  Norway.     Some 


THE  AGRICULTURAL  CLASSES  23 

of  the  outhouses  are  built  of  granite,  often  of  large 
hewn  stones  ;  while  the  outhouses  of  the  peasants  are 
often  only  built  of  round  stones  piled  together.  It  is 
curious  that  during  a  fire  the  most  solid  granite  walls 
crack  under  the  influence  of  the  water  from  the  fire- 
engines. 

Every  Finnish  family  has  its  sauna,  or  bath-house. 
It  is  the  first  place  built,  and  the  family  live  in  it 
until  the  rest  of  the  house  is  ready.  In  this  bath- 
house is  an  oven  filled  with  stones,  and  steam  is  created 
by  throwing  water  on  these  stones.  The  bathers  lie 
on  large  berths  under  the  roof,  and  improve  the  eftect 
of  the  bath  by  whipping  themselves  with  birch- 
twigs.  Every  one  takes  a  bath  on  Saturday  night ; 
and  during  harvest-time,  hay-making,  and  forest- 
burning  they  take  one  every  night.  It  is  commonly 
said  that  Englishmen  and  Hollanders  are  the  only 
clean  nations.  The  people  of  Finland  are  cleaner 
than  the  people  of  England  or  Holland. 

It  is  difiicult  to  estimate  the  average  size  and 
average  value  of  these  peasant  farms.  Generally  a 
peasant  has  (including  forest  and  pasture  land)  at 
least  100,  250,  or  400  acres.  In  the  more  highly- 
cultivated  districts  we  might  say  that  the  area  of 
land  capable  of  cultivation  on  a  Finnish  peasant  farm 
of  averafje  size  is  the  same  as  that  of  a  farm  in  the 
United  States,  or  as  that  of  the  German  and  Scan- 
dinavian farms  before  they  were  subdivided — namely, 
120  acres.  Even  in  the  most  fertile  provinces,  such 
as  Nyland,  Abo-Bjorncborg,  and  Vasa,  the  total  area 
is  not  less  than  400  to  450  acres,  because  so 
much  uncultivated  land  is  found  everywhere.  In 
the  province  of  Viborg  the  average  size  is  only  245 
acres,  not  because  this  province  is  richer  but  be- 
cause  the   peasants   have   been    impoverished   by   the 


24  FINLAND 

large  domains  given  away  by  Russia  in  the  last  cen- 
tury. In  the  northern  forest  country  the  farms  are 
much  larger  ;  in  certain  parishes  they  are  regularly 
of  3250  to  5  000  acres  ;  and  in  the  Lappmark  some 
farms  are  said  to  cover  an  area  of  600,000  acres.  In 
the  not  entirely  satisfactory  statistics  published  by  the 
government,  the  farms  are  divided  into  four  classes, 
according  to  their  size.  There  are  altogether  about 
118,000  farms,  of  which  32,000  contain  less  than  5 
hectares  (i2i  acres)  of  cultivated  land,  61,000  contain 
from  5  to  25  hectares  (62^  acres),  22,000  contain  from 

25  to  100  hectares  (250  acres),  and  2700  contain 
more  than  1 00  hectares.  These  four  divisions  represent 
proportions  of  28  per  cent.,  51  per  cent.,  19  per  cent., 
and  2  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  freehold  farms. 
Besides  these,  there  are  72,000  small  holdings,  form- 
ing part  of  other  properties.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to 
calculate  the  average  price  of  land,  because  the  pro- 
portion of  pasture  and  forest  land  causes  the  value  to 
vary  considerably.  A  comparatively  large  farm  can 
be  bought  for  15,000  to  20,000  marks  (;^6oo  to 
;^8oo),  a  smaller  one  for  4000  to  5000  marks 
(;^i6o  to  ;^200) — prices  which  seem  sometimes  to 
represent  barely  the  value  of  the  buildings  and  fix- 
tures. Unlike  most  agricultural  countries,  however, 
land  in  Finland  during  the  last  few  years  has  in- 
creased in  value  by  at  least   25   per  cent. 

Village  communities  in  Finland  have  been  no  less 
common  than  in  other  Scandinavian  and  Teutonic 
countries,  including  the  eastern  part  of  England,  with 
the  exception  of  Kent.  On  ancient  maps,  before  it 
was  decided,  according  to  laws  dating  from  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  to  enclose  the  common 
lands,  we  may  study  the  settled  parts  of  the  country 
(Ostrobothnia    and    the  south-west,  and   even    in    the 


THE  AGRICULTURAL  CLASSES  25 

east,  where  the  country  was  settled,  as,  for  instance,  on 
Lake   Ladoga  and  the  River  Viioksi),  and  see  every- 
where common  fields  with  numerous  small  plots,  each 
the  property  of  some  small  holder.     The  learned  Pro- 
fessor Meitzen  of  Berlin,  who  has  gone  more   deeply 
tlian  any  one  into  this  matter,  continuing  the  studies 
of  the  Danish  Professor  Olufsen  at  the   beginning  of 
the  century,  is  inclined  to  attribute  this  partition  to 
the  date  of  the  settlement,  when,  in  the  period   be- 
tween Csesar  and  Tacitus,  the  people  abandoned  their 
nomadic    life    for    agriculture.       The    Danish     author 
Lauridsen  considers   that   it   was   mediaeval    law    and 
custom    which    produced    this    method     of    holding 
common  lands.     Certainly  in  Finland  it  was  due  to 
Swedish  custom  and  medifeval  legislation.     The  Fin- 
nish  tribes  living  in  Northern  Russia   seem  to   have 
inhabited  large  isolated  dwellings,  and  did  not  live  in 
villages,  or,  still  less,  hold  lands  in  common.      With 
.  the  division  of  the  family  the  land,  too,  has  been  sub- 
divided, thus  giving  rise  to   the  idea  of  private  pro- 
perty.    The  "  Mir,"  or  Russian  communal  village,  was 
created  by  order  of  the  government,  who  proclaimed 
all  land  in  this  part  of  the  Empire  to  be  crown  land  ; 
and  by  a  decree  of   1829  this  proclamation  has  finally 
been  enforced.     It  was  probably  the  Swedes  who  intro- 
duced ordinary  European  methods  of  agriculture  into 
Finland.     To  the  advantage  of  agriculture  irregularly 
mixed   plots  were    abandoned,   and  the   law   directed 
that  village  lands  should  be  divided  into  long,  regular, 
parallel  plots  by  the  system  known  as  "  sol-skifte,"  or 
sun  distribution.     There  are  decisions  about  enforcing: 
this  system  in  the  Finnish  laws  as  early  as  the  four- 
teenth   century,    where    it    is   called   '"  right   Swedish 
distribution."     It  seems  to  have  been  an  advance  on 
the  primitive  agricultural  method  of  an  earlier  period; 


26  FINLAND 

just  as  later  on  it  was  a  great  advance  when  this  sys- 
tem of  partition  was  superseded  by  distribution  into 
single  farms,  with  the  buildings  of  certain  farms  placed 
outside  the  village. 

The  word  torp  (the  English  "  thorpe  ")  has  different 
meanings  in  different  countries.  In  Germany  dorf 
means  the  common  village.  In  Denmark  the  word 
torp  and  its  numerous  derivatives  signify  always  an 
outlying  hamlet,  an  offshoot  from  the  hy,  which 
means  the  original  settlement.  In  the  case  of  a 
single  farm  the  word  is  only  used  where  a  large 
farm  has  absorbed  the  whole  of  such  an  outl3dng 
hamlet.  In  Sweden  and  Finland  torp  and  torpare 
are  used  to  describe  a  small  holding  of  land  and  its 
inhabitant ;  and  in  Finland  it  is  further  used  about 
such  a  holding  when  it  is  not  owned  by  the  actual 
tenant,  but  forms  part  of  a  possession  belonging  to 
another  man.  There  are  about  72,000  of  these,  and 
many  are  of  some  considerable  size,  containing  from 
12  to  25  acres  of  cultivated  land ;  so  that  the  tenant, 
by  the  help  of  additional  pasture  land,  can  often  keep 
one  or  two  horses  and  four  to  seven  cows,  or  even 
more.  Such  holdings  might  elsewhere  be  called 
farms  ;  and  the  difference  between  the  large  "  torp  "- 
holders  and  the  peasant  tenants  or  land-bonder  of 
Finland  (of  whom  in  1893  hardly  6000  were  left, 
and  barely  1000  on  the  estates  of  the  nobles)  is 
merely  that  the  land-bonder  rent  the  whole  farm, 
which  is  the  unit  for  purposes  of  taxation.  Never- 
theless the  torp-holder  often  has  a  good  house  and 
fair  furniture,  though  his  condition,  like  that  of  the 
bonder,  differs  in  different  parts  of  the  country. 

In  Finland,  as  in  Sweden,  rent  for  these  torps  is 
usually  paid  in  labour.  This  is  chiefly  the  result  of 
custom,  and  might  now  often  with  advantage  be  dis- 


THE  AGRICULTURAL  CLASSES  27 

continued.    In  other  cases,  however,  the  great  distances, 
and  the  primitive  economic  conditions  of  the  country, 
make  it  desirable  for  both  parties  to  agree  that  the  rent 
shall  be  so  paid.      The  tenant  cannot  sell  his  spare 
labour  to  others,  and  the  landlord  cannot  easily  obtain 
labour  elsewhere.    The  torp-holder  or  cottier   usually 
binds  himself  also  to  work  for  his  landlord,  occasionally 
also   to   act  as   a  carrier  during  his  spare  hours,  re- 
ceiving payment  for  any  work  beyond  what  is  sufficient 
to  pay  his  rent.     In  the  case  of  small  torps  held,  for 
instance,  by  artisans  who  have  other  kinds  of  work, 
the  tenants  are  sometimes  only  obliged  to  give  their 
labour  for  a  few  days  in  harvest-time  or  hay-making 
time,  when  labour  is  of  exceptional  value  to  the  large 
farmer.     Sometimes  the  torp-holder  has  built  his  own 
house — a  fact  which  is,  of  course,  considered  in  the 
rent.     In  the  eastern  part  of  the  country,  in  Carelia, 
and  also  in  the  north,  where  the  landlord  has  less  need 
of  labour,  the  cottier  sometimes  pays  his  rent  in  kind, 
paying  one-third  of  the  net  crop  of  grain,  or  even  one- 
half  if  the  owner  has  provided  the  seed.     For  waste 
land  just  reclaimed,  nothing  is  paid  for  the  first  three 
years.     For  the  right  to  grow  crops  on  the  "  svedje  "  or 
burnt  forests,  a  right  which  is  to  be  used  for  a  few  years 
only,  the  tenant  pays  from  one-quarter  to  one-third  of 
the  harvest.     One  reason  for  paying  rent  in  kind   is 
the  lack  of  a  regular  market  for  grain,  and  the  variation 
in  the  harvests,  caused  especially  by  the  frosts.     Occa- 
sionally the  cottier  lives  too  far  from  his  landlord  to 
work  for  him.     Sometimes  he  has  the  right  of  hay- 
making, paying  one  day's  labour  per  week   for   each 
load  of  hay. 

The  Legislature  has  so  far  interfered  (or  proposed  to 
interfere)  only  with  the  following  points  in  the  position 
of  torp-holders  and  land-bonder:  (i)  Contracts  must 


2  8  FINLAND 

be  in  writing  and  witnessed ;  otherwise  they  will  be 
regarded  as  binding  for  ten  years.  (2)  A  valuation 
must  be  made  when  the  tenant  takes  or  gives  up 
possession.  (3)  All  dues,  especiall}'"  labour,  must  be 
specified  and  fixed,  though  rent  in  kind  may  be  paid 
either  in  a  fixed  quantity  or  as  a  certain  proportion  of 
the  harvest.  (4)  Improvements  must  be  paid  for  ac- 
cording to  valuation,  making  allowance  for  reasonable 
profit  accruing  from  them ;  improvements  on  a  large 
scale  may  not,  however,  be  made  without  permission  of 
the  owner.  Hereditary  tenancies  continuing  for  more 
than  two  generations  are  not  encouraged  by  modern 
legislation. 

Besides  the  torp-holders  there  is  a  class  not  mentioned 
in  the  official  statistics.  These  are  the  smaller  cottagers, 
the  "backstugusittare,"  who,  together  with  kindred  classes, 
number,  according  to  a  careful  private  calculation,  about 
100,000.  Most  of  these  cottasrers  have  also  a  small 
patch  of  land,  usually  pasturage  for  one  or  more  cows. 
In  many  countries  the  labourers  would  be  happy  if, 
like  these  Finnish  cottagers,  they  had  cows  which  gave 
sufficient  milk  for  the  family.  Many  of  these  cottagers 
are  very  poor;  others  are  better  off.  Some  aim  at 
becoming  torp-holders  by  reclaiming  waste  land.  Many 
workmen  have  not  even  a  cottage,  but  live  in  rooms  in 
other  people's  houses. 

The  situation  of  this  large  class,  which  has  no  home 
of  its  own,  is  often  a  very  unfortunate  one.  In  former 
times  these  "  inhysingar  "  and  their  families  were  often 
in  a  most  curious  and  precarious  position.  The  Pauper- 
Law  required  that  some  householder  should  be  respon- 
sible for  them,  and  that  they  should  not  move  out  of 
their  own  parish  unless  they  could  get  some  one  to  give 
security  for  them.  This  hindered  their  freedom  of 
movement,  as  did  the  old  Poor-Law  in  England.     The 


THE  AGRICULTURAL  CLASSES  29 

peasant  farmer  with  whom  they  Hved  could  only  employ 
them  for  a  small  part  of  the  year,  and  they  passed  the 
long  winter  sleeping  by  the  fire  or  elsewhere.  Even 
to-day,  people  of  this  class  seldom  have  beds.  In  those 
days  even  their  clothes  did  not  always  belong  to  them. 
In  modern  times  they  are  better  off,  because  there  is 
more  work  to  do,  but  the  winters  are  still  a  great 
difficulty. 

In  addition  to  their  tenants  who  pay  rent  in  labour, 
many  of  the  bonder  employ  ordinary  hired  labourers, 
chiefly  to  drive  their  teams  of  horses.  Some  of  these 
(the  "drangar")  have  their  meals  on  the  farm,  others 
(the  "  statkarlar  ")  are  paid  in  kind  and  are  also  provided 
with  pasture  for  a  cow.  Even  more  elaborate  arrange- 
ments are  made  with  the  "  spanmals-karlar  "  ("  grain- 
workers  "),  who,  besides  being  paid  in  grain,  receive  a 
piece  of  land  for  their  own  use,  and  are,  therefore, 
granted  certain  days  on  which  to  work  for  themselves. 
A  farm-hand,  in  the  wealthier  districts,  can  now  earn 
from  six  to  seven  hundred  marks  a  year,  a  temporary 
labourer  2|  marks  a  day  in  summer,  or  1.75  marks  in 
winter  ;  a  woman,  1.30  marks  in  summer  and  i  in 
winter ;  and  a  man  with  a  cart  and  horse,  4.60  marks 
in  summer  and  3.20  in  winter. 

On  Aland  and  the  numberless  other  islands  situated 
in  the  south-west  and  on  the  southern  coast,  as  well 
as  on  parts  of  the  Bothnian  coast,  we  find  the  same 
three  classes  as  on  the  mainland :  the  middle- class, 
the  cottagers  with  land  sufficient  for  cows  and  sheep, 
and  finally  a  class  without  property  and  reduced  to 
work  for  others.  These  islands,  like  the  Finnish 
mainland,  are  extremely  beautiful,  clothed  with  more 
luxurious  vegetation  than  the  mainland,  covered  with 
different  kinds  of  trees,  and  the  soil  sometimes 
mixed   with  marl,  though   in   large  parts  the  islands 


30  FINLAND 

are  pure  granite.  Most  of  the  inhabitants  are  sailors 
or  fishermen.  The  introduction  of  steam-boats  has, 
of  course,  brought  many  changes,  and  caused  a  num- 
ber of  men  to  seek  work  abroad.  When  the  men- 
folk are  at  sea  the  women-kind  cultivate  the  land. 
This  is  the  case  also  on  the  coast  of  the  mainland, 
especially  in  Ostrobothnia,  where  there  is  also  a  large 
sailor  population  and  a  great  amount  of  emigration. 

The  large  farms,  the  "  herregardar,"  which  are  owned 
by  gentlemen  farmers,  are  found  in  the  same  propor- 
tion to  other  farms  as  is  the  case  in  Denmark  and 
Sweden.  They  are  more  numerous  than  in  Western 
Germany,  but  very  few  compared  to  Germany  east 
of  the  Elbe  or  to  the  greater  part  of  Austria-Hungary. 
They  are  nearly  all  found  in  the  south  of  Finland, 
"  where  every  manor  is  a  monument  and  every  church- 
yard a  tomb  of  heroes."  This  is  a  part  of  the  country 
famous  in  history,  the  cradle  of  Finnish  civilisation. 
Here  are  found  nearly  all  the  old  manor-houses,  the 
"  saterier  "  or  "  ypperliga  fralse  ;"  which  number  260. 
Except  for  their  entire  exemption  from  the  tax  on 
real  estate,  which  is  to-day  more  of  a  rent  to  the 
Crown  than  a  tax,  no  privilege  now  attaches  to  these 
manorial  properties.  Other  properties  formerly  in 
the  hands  of  the  gentry,  the  "  allmiinna  fralse,"  are 
partially  exempt  from  taxation,  because  of  their  old 
obligation  of  feudal  military  service,  by  which  they 
had  to  provide  a  certain  number  of  mounted  troops. 
Of  the  total  units  of  taxation  in  the  country,  some 
1 9,000  in  number,  only  one-tenth  belong  to  this  class, 
which  is  more  or  less  exempted  from  taxation,  and 
most  of  these  are  situated  in  the  south.  We  mention 
this  because  the  "  allmanna  fralse "  represents  land 
formerly  belonging  to  the  nobles  and  gentry.  The 
large  farms  {i.e.  farms  of   250  acres  or   more)  which 


THE  AGRICULTURAL  CLASSES  31 

are  not  exempt  from  taxation  are  found  in  still  larger 
numbers  in  the  districts  of  Tavastehus,  St.  Michel, 
and  Vasa.  In  the  same  districts,  especially  in  Vasa 
and  Tavastehus,  are  also  found  a  large  number  of 
ordinary  peasant  farms  containing  from  12  to  60 
acres  of  cultivated  land.  In  Uleaborg,  the  most 
northerly  district,  there  are  hardly  any  considerable 
farms,  but  a  great  number  of  small  peasant  farms. 

In  1896  there  were  900,000  acres  in  the  hands 
of  noble  families  against  4,000,000  held  by  them  in 
1862,  this  change  being  chiefly  due  to  a  fact  about 
which  we  shall  speak  later,  that  the  Russian  estates 
in  the  south  had  been  bought  by  the  Finnish  govern- 
ment. Of  estates  entailed  in  perpetuity  there  are 
now  only  nine  left.  The  very  large  farms  continue 
to  increase  in  area.  They  are  especially  well  adapted 
for  the  use  of  machinery  and  the  sinking  of  capital, 
and  respond  to  intelligent  care  more  readily  than  the 
others.  The  smaller  "  herregardar,"  on  the  contrary, 
are  decreasing  in  number.  One  hears  on  all  sides 
about  the  large  number  of  upper-class  families  who 
are  selling  their  farms  to  the  peasant  farmers,  the 
latter  being  ready  to  buy  because  they  live  more 
economically  and  spend  less  on  expensive  kinds  of 
labour.  Many  of  these  peasant  farmers  raise  them- 
selves into  the  upper  class;  their  sons  go  to  the 
University  or  obtain  a  superior  education  by  some 
other  means.  The  old  families  emigrate  into  the  towns 
in  order  to  educate  their  children,  or  because  they  have 
taken  up  new  industrial  and  commercial  occupations. 
Some  great  properties  are  now  being  turned  into  joint- 
stock  companies.  For  the  most  part  it  is  the  timber 
business  which  is  so  dealt  with,  the  companies  having 
more  facilities  for  working  and  disposing  of  the  timber. 
They  take  better  care  of  the  forests,  too,  than   the 


32  FINLAND 

peasant  proprietors.  In  some  cases  the  companies 
cultivate  farms  on  their  own  account,  the  Jokkis  Joint- 
stock  Company,  for  instance,  which  owns  some  70,000 
acres,  half  of  which  is  land  under  cultivation  and  only 
a  minor  part  of  which  is  let.  Companies  of  this 
description  have  sufficient  capital  to  take  advantage 
of  all  the  newest  improvements,  but  this  one  has  been 
especially  enterprising,  as  it  has  built  a  20-kilometre 
railway,  and  established  several  thriving  industries  on 
its  property.  It  is  by  these  industries  and  not  by 
farming  that  the  company  is  making  money. 

It  is  not  only  in  England  that  the  system  of  letting 
large  farms  prevails.  This  is  the  case  in  a  minor 
degree  in  other  countries  with  a  social  system  more 
like  that  of  Finland ;  in  Denmark,  for  instance,  where 
many  large  farms  are  in  the  hands  of  tenant  farmers 
with  thorough  technical  knowledge  of  their  business. 
In  Finland  this  is  seldom  the  case.,  less  frequently  even 
than  in  Prussia.  Perhaps  technical  agricultural  educa- 
tion is  neglected.  More  probably  it  is  the  interest  of 
the  owners  to  keep  the  estates  in  their  own  hands  in 
countries  such  as  Finland,  where,  as  a  rule,  there  is 
more  than  one  kind  of  business,  forestry  as  well  as 
agriculture,  and  many  other  forms  of  paying  industry. 
Besides  this,  there  are  many  "  bostallen "  or  Crown 
lands,  large  or  medium-sized  farms  which  are  let  on 
a  carefully-drawn  lease  for  periods  of  twenty-five  years. 
Many  of  these  properties  have  belonged  to  the  Crown 
from  ancient  times,  and  many  of  them  were  subject 
to  a  rather  arbitrary  proceeding  known  in  Finnish 
history  as  "the  reduction,"  by  which,  in  1680,  lands 
granted  by  foriner  kings  to  the  nobles  were  taken 
back  by  the  Crown.  In  recent  times  most  of  these 
farms,  800  in  number,  were  made  over  to  the  officers 
of   the   army ;    the   whole    army,   officers    as   well    as 


THE  AGRICULTURAL  CLASSES  33 

soldiers,  being  quartered  on  and  supported  by  farms 
in  different  provinces.  Nowadays,  when  the  former 
army  system  has  been  replaced  by  the  ordinary 
Continental  form  of  conscription,  these  farms  are  let. 
Their  total  area  is  650,000  acres,  of  which  125,000 
are  under  cultivation.  Besides  the  above,  about  fifty 
other  farms  belong  to  the  State  in  the  same  manner, 
some  of  these  latter  being  old  royal  manors ;  others 
formerly  the  houses  of  government  officials ;  others 
having  been  bought  by  the  Finnish  government  dur- 
ing their  purchase  of  the  old  Russian  domains ;  others 
belonging  to  hospitals  and  similar  institutions.  The 
total  area  of  these  is  5  5 ,000  acres,  of  which  some 
12,000  acres  are  under  cultivation.  Finally,  the 
rectors  and  vicars  of  the  Lutheran  Church  hold 
about  700  other  farms,  with  a  total  area  of  850,000 
acres.  This  is  about  the  same  acreage  as  that  held 
by  the  nobles,  but  is  of  less  value,  because  many  of 
these  farms  are  situated  in  the  north  or  in  other 
poor  districts.  The  wives  of  the  clergy  take  great 
interest  in  the  management  of  the  farms,  and,  as  a 
rule,  this  glebe-land  is  even  better  cultivated  than  the 
peasant  farms. 

In  1864,  the  exclusive  right  of  the  nobles  to  own 
land  entirely  exempt  from  taxation  was  abolished,  and 
now  anybody  can  own  any  kind  of  land.  We  shall 
deal  later  with  the  liberty  now  granted  to  every  one 
to  follow  any  industrial  or  comLiiercial  pursuit,  and 
with  the  abolition  of  all  guilds  and  close  corporations. 
In  every  respect  the  old  class  privileges  are  abolished. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    LAND    LAWS    OF    FINLAND 

There  is  one  great  difference  between  a  self-governing 
people  and  those  who  are  oppressed  by  their  rulers  or 
by  a  privileged  class ;  that   in  the  case  of  the  former 
revolution   is  unnecessary.     Violent   change   may,  for 
some  reason,  be  necessary  in  a  country,  and  it  may 
be  carried  out  by  a  popular  movement  or  by  an  auto- 
cratic decree,  but  it  is  always  less  happy  in  its  conse- 
quences than  a  change  due  to  free  natural  evolution. 
We   see,   for   example,   the   immediate   effects   of  the 
changes  produced  by  the  French  Eevolution ;  by  the 
Hapsburg   monarchy,   and   by    the   rulers   of   Prussia 
and  even   more  of  Russia,  which  illustrate  the  diffi- 
culty  of  revolutionising   rural   institutions ;    and    the 
advantage   possessed   by   countries   where    such    mea- 
sures are  unnecessary.      In  Finland  natural  develop- 
ment is  the  rule,  the  only  exception  to  it  being  that 
part   of  the   country  which   was  under   Russian   rule 
during  the  last  century  and  was  therefore  organised 
according  to  Russian  principles. 

Throughout  the  greater  part  of  Finland  rural  legis- 
lation has  chiefly  concerned  itself  with  enclosures,  that 
is,  the  abolition  of  the  common  property  of  parishes 
and  villages,  and  the  distribution  of  the  intermixed 
acres  of  common  village-fields  among  the  several  pro- 
prietors. These  measures,  which  were  essential  to 
every  kind  of  progress,  have  been  of  the  greatest 
benefit  to  the  people.     "  Storskifte,"  this  re -distribution 


THE  LAND  LAWS  OF  FINLAND  35 

into  compact  farms,  was  decided  upon  in  1750,  a  time 
when  philanthropists  all  over  Europe  were  working  for 
the  good  of  their  kind.  The  work  has,  however,  only 
recently  been  finished,  and  as  late  as  1848  some 
parishes  in  the  east  had  enormous  tracts  of  forests  not 
only  undivided  among  separate  proprietors,  but  held 
in  common  by  several  villages  and  parishes.  The 
work  was,  of  course,  imperfectly  done  at  first,  so  that 
much  had  to  be  done  over  again  and  much  to  be 
entirely  changed.  Now,  however,  the  farms  have  been 
more  conveniently  arranged,  a  number  of  farmhouses 
have  been  moved  out  from  the  villages,  and  the  whole 
work  of  enclosure  is  being  satisfactorily  accomplished. 

In  old  days  the  Kings  of  Sweden  maintained  a 
claim  not  only  to  the  so-called  Upsala  Oden,  but  to  all 
waste  lands.  Later  on  many  of  them  (notably  Kino- 
Eric  of  Pomerania  in  the  days  of  the  Scandinavian 
Union,  and  other  powerful  rulers  who  were  chiefly 
concerned  about  the  State  treasury  and  their  private 
purse)  enforced  the  right  of  any  settler  to  take  un- 
occupied land,  the  villagers  who  had  rights  in  the 
woods  not  being  permitted  to  hinder  him.  Gustavus 
Vasa  declared  that  "  waste  lands  belong  to  God,  the 
Crown  of  Sweden,  and  the  King."  Charles  IX.  required 
the  cottiers  or  torp-holders,  the  smaller  settlers  on 
this  waste  land,  to  pay  rent  to  the  Crown,  and  not  to 
the  bonder  or  peasant  proprietors  of  the  village. 
To-day  the  Crown  lands  have  been  separated  from 
those  of  the  peasants,  the  Crown  retaining  for  the 
most  part  the  big  forests  of  the  north  where  there  are 
no  villages,  and  also  what  is  left  over  after  the  en- 
closure and  distribution  of  the  commons  among  the 
peasants.  According  to  laws  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
750  to  1500  acres  (in  some  parts  2000  acres)  are  con- 
sidered to  be  the  proper  maximum  for  each  peasant. 


36  FINLAND 

After  the  organisation  of  the  forest  administration  in 
1859  ^^^   1863,  the  authorities  were  inchned  to  pre- 
vent any  settlement  in  the  State  forests,  and  to  dis- 
possess the  tenants  who  were  already  there ;  this  being 
the  case  not  only  on  the  forest  Crown  lands  reserved 
by  the  State  for  timber-growing.     When  we  remember 
that  formerly  there  was  complete  liberty  to  use   and 
settle  on   these  lands,   we  cannot  wonder  that   com- 
plaints were  heard  and  had  to  be  dealt  with  in  the 
newly-revived  Diet  during  the  sessions  of   1863-1864, 
1867,  and  1872.    No  fewer  than  10,000  persons  were, 
it  was  believed,  living  on   these   lands,   most   of  the 
families  residing  there  without  having  complied  with 
the   rules   about  the    tax-assessment    and   so   without 
acquiring  legal  right.     In  1867,  and  again  in  1872-3, 
measures  were  taken  to  secure  the  position  of  the  men 
who  had  really  cultivated  this  land.      On  the  whole, 
the  existing  law,  especially  the  provisions  of  the  Forest 
Law  of   1886  and  of  the  Colonisation  Law  of   1892,  is 
very  favourable  to  the  settlers,  favouring  them  indeed 
at  the  expense   of  the  Crown.     It  is  not  unlike  the 
American  Homestead  Law,  which  gives  grants  of  land 
on  the  condition  of  cultivating  a  small  part  and  paying 
an  insitfnificant  fee.     It  has  been  decided  that  these 
Crown  lands    which   are   fit    for  cultivation   shall    be 
separated  from  the  forest  land,  surveyed,  mapped  out, 
assessed  for  taxation,  and  offered  to  people  who  wish 
to   settle.     The    settlers    are    to    have    an    additional 
advantage  ;    that  for  the  first   fifteen  years  they  are 
entirely  exempt  from  taxation,  and  have  to  pay  only 
half  taxes  for  the  next  five,  while  they  may  perhaps 
get  this  exemption  extended  to  forty  years.     The  taxa- 
tion is  very  moderate,  being  only  from  two  to  twelve 
Finnish   'penni  {i.e.   from  a  farthing  to  a  penny)  per 
hectare.     In  the  far  north,  where   the  common  land 


THE  LAND  LAWS  OF  FINLAND  37 

has  not  yet  been  enclosed  and  allotted,  permission  to 
settle  may  nevertheless  be  granted.  Large  tracts  of 
land  which  are  not  adapted  for  agricultural  purposes 
or  for  forestry  may  be  treated  as  communal  land  and 
granted  to  villages  or  other  associations,  or  allotted 
among  the  farms  of  the  neighbourhood.  Portions  of 
this  land  may  even  be  sold.  Marsh  land  when  drained 
can  also  be  offered  for  settlement  on  the  liberal  terms 
which  we  have  described.  This  and  other  land  can  be 
let  provisionally  until  the  final  arrangement  is  made. 

In  fact,  however,  few  persons  have  availed  them- 
selves of  this  new  law,  liberal  as  are  its  provisions. 
Between  1868  and  1896  only  466  such  farms  were 
established,  some  of  these  being  already  in  exist- 
ence and  now  only  obtaining  an  acknowledgment  of 
their  legal  status.  The  majority  were  formed  in  the 
north.  With  the  means  at  command  it  has  been 
totally  impossible  to  finish  the  work  of  separating  this 
land  from  the  forests,  surveying  it,  mapping  it  out,  and 
so  on.  The  Forest  Administration  prefers  to  make 
the  holdings  small  ones  and  to  let  them.  This 
arrangement,  by  which  the  land  can  be  retained  as 
government  property,  can  be  made  without  separating 
the  large  tracts  of  land  which  are  to  be  retained  as 
forests  from  the  land  Avhich  in  the  future  will  be 
given  up  to  settlement.  In  1869  there  were  1300 
of  these  small  Crown  holdings  and  400  houses 
with  less  land,  of  which,  however,  about  200  were 
abandoned  again,  as  frequently  happens  in  the 
American  settlements.  In  1897  the  number  of 
small  Crown  holdings  had  increased  to  2700, 
although  some  of  these  had  been  changed  into  free- 
hold farms  of  the  kind  just  described,  or  into  small 
holdings  for  the  forest  guards.  These  Crown  torp- 
holders  are  comparatively  well-off ;  for  the  first  twenty 


38  FINLAND 

years  they  pay  no  rent ;  sometimes  for  the  latter  part  of 
their  period  they  pay  only  half  or  one-third  of  the  agreed 
rent,  which  is  itself  less  than  the  average  rent  paid  to 
private  landlords.  It  varies  from  one-fourteenth  of 
the  total  grain  and  hay  crops,  which  is  the  average  in 
the  far  north  (as  in  Kemi,  for  example),  to  as  much  as 
one-sixth  in  Viborg,  one-fifth  in  St.  Michel,  and  one- 
fourth  in  Tavasthus  ;  the  pasture  and  timber  from  the 
woods  often  more  than  paying  the  rent.  A  lease  is 
granted  for  twenty-five  years  with  the  option  of  renew- 
ing it  for  another  twenty-five,  the  widow  and  children 
having  the  right  to  remain  till  the  expiration  of  the 
lease  if  the  husband  dies.  Compensation  is  paid  for 
all  improvements. 

To  fully  understand  the  position  of  the  settlers  on 
the  Crown  lands,  some  further  explanation  is  required 
of  a  certain  Swedish-Finnish  institution  called  "  krono- 
hemman  "  or  Crown  farms.  These  farms,  according  to 
ojfficial  statistics,  represent  abdut  1 5  oo  (or  8  per  cent.) 
out  of  a  total  of  19,500  "mantals"  or  units  of  taxa- 
tion ;  another  1 6,000  out  of  this  total  representing 
ordinary  peasant  farms.  In  1896  these  krono-hemman 
were  estimated  to  number  8000  out  of  a  total  of 
1 1 7,000  farms.  Originally  the  "  krono-bonder  "  were 
tenant  farmers  under  the  Crown,  as  the  "  land-bonder  " 
are  tenants  on  private  estates.  In  the  course  of  time, 
however,  they  have  obtained  so  many  rights,  that  they 
are  more  like  proprietors  than  tenants.  Their  rent 
does  not  amount  to  more  than  the  taxes  paid  by  the 
ordinary  peasant  proprietor.  In  early  times  they 
gained  an  exemption  from  all  payments  for  a  certain 
number  of  years,  in  order  that  they  might  take  up  the 
cultivation  of  waste  land  and  abandoned  farms ;  they 
received  such  an  exemption,  for  instance,  in  1723,  after 
the  great  war,  and  frequently  again  later,  the  last  occa- 


THE  LAND  LAWS  OF  FINLAND  39 

sion  being  in  the  recent  colonisation  law,  which  made 
provision  for  such  exemptions.  These  tenants  have 
also  the  right  of  inheritance,  which  right  is  even  men- 
tioned in  the  Act  of  Union  and  Security  of  1789. 
They  can  also  sell  their  rights  in  the  holding.  The 
Crown  tenant  can  also  change  the  condition  of  his 
tenancy  into  full  proprietorship  or  ordinary  fee-simple 
by  the  so-called  "  skattekop " ;  that  is  to  say,  he  has 
been  able,  since  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
to  convert  his  holding  into  an  ordinary  peasant  pro- 
perty or  "  skatte-hemman,"  by  an  immediate  payment 
of  three  years'  (formerly  six  years)  rent  and  taxes  ;  and 
since  1858  he  has  been  allowed  to  extend  this  small 
payment  over  a  period  of  ten  years.  The  tenant  was 
merely  not  allowed  to  exhaust  the  farm,  but  even  the 
proprietors  of  skatte-hemman,  or  ordinary  peasant 
farms,  were  not  allowed  to  do  this.  According  to 
Finnish  legislation,  which  has  developed  on  the  same 
lines  as  the  Swedish  legislation,  even  after  the  separa- 
tion from  Sweden,  the  possessor  of  a  krono-hemnian 
is  peculiarly  circumscribed  in  the  disposition  of  his 
property  at  death ;  he  is  usually  unable  to  give  it 
away  to  any  one  during  his  lifetime,  or  dispose  of  it 
by  will,  and  the  widow  has  the  right  to  retain  posses- 
sion during  her  lifetime.  The  farm  may  be  divided,  if 
each  part  can  maintain  a  family.  In  arranging  the 
heritage,  it  is  necessary  for  one  person  to  be  respon- 
sible for  the  dues.  If  the  eldest  son,  or  other  sole 
inheritor  on  whom  the  others  may  fix,  cannot  pay  the 
share  due  to  those  others,  they  may  decide  by  ballot 
who  is  to  take  the  farm.  One  inconvenient  practice 
already  mentioned  is  a  custom  in  the  part  of  Finland 
known  as  Old  Finland,  which  was  under  Russian  rule 
in  the  last  century,  of  several  families  continuing  to 
live    together    on    the    farm.       Although    the   krone- 


40  FINLAND 

hemman  is  based  on  the  principle  that  one  man  shall 
inherit  the  farm,  it  has  nevertheless  been  found  neces- 
sary here  to  make  an  exception  when  the  parties  desire 
to  continue  a  common  occupancy.  One  man,  the 
"  host,"  has  then  to  be  in  authority,  and  responsible  for 
all  dues. 

It  is  a  curious  modem  example  of  methods  freely 
adopted  in  the  times  of  our  forefathers,  that  barely  ten 
or  twenty  years  ago  waste  forest-land  was  occupied  and 
used  in  common  by  the  peasants.  This  is  a  proceeding 
which  might  help  to  explain  the  much-debated  forma- 
tion of  common  fields  in  ancient  and  mediaeval  times. 
Ten  or  twelve  peasants  in  the  eastern  parishes  not  far 
from  the  Russian  frontier  would  arrange  for  the  burning 
of  the  forests  and  the  cultivation  of  the  land  for  some 
years  afterwards.  This  was  done  sometimes  by  a 
family,  sometimes  by  a  party  of  peasants  forming  a 
small  informal  company.  The  members  of  the  com- 
pany shared  the  profits  according  to  the  "  axes "  or 
number  of  persons  whom  they  sent  or  brought.  They 
went  80  or  100  miles  into  the  woods  with  sledges 
loaded  with  everything  necessary  to  pass  the  summer 
there.  They  lived  in  huts,  felled  the  trees,  and  came 
again  after  the  lapse  of  two  summers  to  burn  the  trees 
and  undergrowth,  and  sow  and  reap  crops  (generally 
rye)  over  an  area  of  20  to  40  acres.  When  they  had 
decided  which  area  they  intended  to  burn,  it  was 
marked  out  on  the  trees,  and  these  marks  were 
respected  by  all  new  comers  for  the  three  subsequent 
years. 

Though  it  has  been  generally  unnecessary  to  inter- 
fere with  the  rights  of  property,  a  peculiar  situation 
necessitating  extraordinary  measures  arose  in  one  part 
of  the  country.  In  Old  Finland,  the  south-eastern 
corner  of  the  country,  ceded  to  Russia  partly  in  172  i 


THE  LAND  LAWS  OF  FINLAND  41 

and  partly  in  1743,  Peter  the  Great  and  the  Empress 
EHzabeth  made  large  donations  of  lands,  as  they 
were  accustomed  to  do  in  other  parts  of  their  empire. 
Men  with  well-known  Russian  names,  Apraxin,  Tcher- 
nishefF,  Schuvaloff,  Repnin,  Vorontzoff,  Trubetskoi  and 
others,  obtained  hundreds  of  farms  here,  sometimes 
even  a  number  of  villages  with  thousands  of  inhabitants. 
These  were  granted  at  first  for  indefinite  periods  or  for 
life,  but  later  on  were  given  as  property  to  be  inherited 
and  freely  disposed  of.  Most  of  the  peasants  were 
krono-bonder,  or  tenants  with  the  right  of  inheritance 
and  sale,  some  of  them  even  being  peasant  proprietors. 
It  was  decreed  that  the  nobles  to  whom  these  lands 
were  granted  should  receive  two-thirds  of  the  revenue 
due  to  the  Crown,  the  Crown  retaining  one-third ;  and 
in  1728  it  was  decided  that  the  peasants  should  pay 
only  the  same  amounts  which  they  had  paid  when  the 
country  belonged  to  Sweden. 

In  time,  however,  the  peasants  began  to  suffer  from 
acts  of  tyranny  on  the  part  of  these  new  landlords, 
who,  as  was  their  custom  in  Russia,  seized  farms,  and 
turned  them  into  home-farms  with  manor-houses  for 
their  own  use.  Their  Russian  estate  agents  demanded 
that  the  peasants,  with  their  horses,  should  work  for 
the  landlord  instead  of  paying  their  dues  in  grain. 
The  local  government  officials,  many  of  whom  had 
come  from  the  Swedish  part  of  Finland,  were  usually 
willing  to  recognise  the  rights  of  the  peasants,  but  the 
Russian  nobles  were  not  used  to  tolerating  such  inter- 
ference with  what  they  regarded  as  their  private  busi- 
ness, and  refused  to  recognise  the  jurisdiction  of  these 
government  officials  and  their  courts.  Worst  of  all 
was  the  treatment  meted  out  to  the  peasants  at  the 
imperial  small-arms  factory  in  Systerback,  which  de- 
manded so  much  work,  that  the  four  parishes  from  which 


42  FINLAND 

it  drew  its  labour  had  to  be  replaced  after  a  time  by 
another  four.  The  local  agent  of  the  Alexander  Nevski 
Convent  in  St.  Petersburg  even  refused  to  give  the 
peasants  receipts  for  work  and  other  dues  paid  to  him, 
and  this  proceeding  was  quite  a  common  one.  Accus- 
tomed as  such  overseers  were  in  Russia  to  demand 
work  at  their  pleasure,  they  could  not  understand  why 
they  should  not  claim  the  same  rights  in  Finland,  and 
increase  rents,  and  make  what  demands  they  pleased 
from  the  peasants.  In  a  famous  lawsuit  between 
Baron  Freedericksz  of  Taubila  and  his  peasants,  in  the 
reign  of  the  Empress  Catherine,  a  decision  was  given 
by  the  Imperial  Senate  by  which  the  landlord  might 
increase  the  rent  of  his  peasants  notwithstanding  the 
decision  of  1728.  When  rent  could  be  arbitrarily 
increased,  the  peasants  themselves  no  longer  profited 
by  their  own  improvements.  The  Empress  Catherine, 
in  whose  reign,  notwithstanding  her  liberal  professions, 
serfdom  developed  into  such  complete  slavery  that  the 
serfs  could  be  sold  off  the  estates,  gave  donations  in 
Old  Finland  of  "  souls  with  farms  and  habitations  as 
eternal  and  hereditary  possession."  When  the  Russian 
system  of  military  conscription  was  introduced,  and 
young  men  were  carried  ofi'  to  Poland  and  Turkey, 
while  those  who  stayed  at  home  had  to  build  barracks 
and  provide  everything  which  was  used  in  then],  many 
of  the  young  men  fled  the  country,  and  the  peasants 
tried  forcible  resistance,  no  fewer  than  twenty-eight 
peasant  riots  taking  place  in  a  few  years.  Further- 
more, even  in  the  time  of  Alexander  I.,  demands  came 
from  the  Russian  nobles  in  Finland,  especially  from  a 
certain  Major- General  Kopyeff,  that  the  government 
should  introduce  into  Finland  a  complete  system  of 
Russian  serfdom,  and  permit  the  nobles  to  locate  the 
peasants  in  big  villages,  where  it  would  be  easier  to 


THE  LAND  LAWS  OF  FINLAND  43 

control  them.  In  a  lawsuit  between  Count  Orloff'  and 
his  peasants,  it  was  decided  by  the  Imperial  Senate 
that  rent  could  be  fixed  by  the  landlord  at  his  will, 
and  that  peasants  who  tried  to  leave  their  estates 
should  be  regarded  as  offenders  against  the  Emperor 
and  as  criminals.  The  landlords  would  not  even 
permit  women  to  marry  outside  their  estates  without 
permission. 

Alexander  I.,  who  had  by  this  time  conquered  the 
whole  of  Finland,  now  decided  that  Old  Finland,  the 
Province  of  Viborg  as  it  was  then  called,  should  be 
re-united  to  the  rest  of  Finland.  One  of  his  reasons 
was  a  desire  to  improve  the  position  of  the  peasants ; 
their  present  position,  he  said,  was  well-fitted  to  make 
the  inhabitants  of  the  rest  of  Finland  afraid  of  his 
rule.  In  this,  as  in  several  other  matters,  he  acted  on 
the  advice  of  the  Finnish  Count  G.  M.  Armfelt,  and 
against  the  views  of  his  Russian  councillors.  The 
ofl&cials,  many  of  whom  were  Germans,  were  reduced 
in  number  from  217  to  89,  and  some  incapable  per- 
sons were  replaced  by  better  men  from  Finland.  The 
Russian  landlords  would  not,  however,  give  up  their 
demands ;  they  were  so  persistent,  that  the  Secretary 
of  State  for  Finland  in  St.  Petersburg,  Count 
Rehbinder,  recommended  that  the  Province  of  Viborg 
should  be  again  separated  from  Finland. 

The  nobles  did  not  gain  their  point  about  the 
introduction  of  serfdom,  but  they  obtained  an  official 
declaration  that  they  were  absolute  proprietors  of  the 
peasant  farms.  Alexander  I.,  who  had  grown  less 
liberal  than  formerly,  would  not  separate  the  province 
from  Finland,  but  Count  Zakreffski,  the  Governor- 
General  of  Finland,  obtained  the  nomination  of  a 
Finnish  Committee  under  his  presidency,  which  was 
to  decide  the  exact  meaning  of  the  letters  of  donation, 


44  FINLAND 

ignoring  the  previous  rights  of  the  peasants.  He 
obtained  from  this  committee  a  declaration  that  the 
landlords  had  the  full  rights  of  property,  with  the  ex- 
emption from  taxes  (the  so-called  fralse)  which  they 
claimed  ;  and  with  regard  to  their  manors  (which  are 
known  as  saterier)  some  further  privileges  in  the  matter 
of  taxation  were  granted.  Those  peasants  who  could 
furnish  valid  proofs  that  their  farms  were  proprietary 
peasant  farms,  preserved  their  rights.  Three  senators, 
who  were  members  of  the  committee,  further  recom- 
mended that  the  present  tenants  should  be  allowed 
to  keep  their  original  rights  for  their  lifetime. 
Nicholas  I,,  who  had  now  ascended  the  throne,  decided, 
however,  that  the  estates  were  to  be  the  absolute 
property  of  the  landlord,  even  when  originally  they 
had  only  been  granted  for  a  term  of  years;  but 
that,  on  the  other  hand,  the  peasants  should  retain 
their  old  rights  for  ten  years,  that  is  till  1837.  The 
peasants  continued  a  restive  opposition,  refusing  to 
sign  contracts,  and  working  badly  when  called  upon 
to  work  for  their  masters.  Their  labour,  as  a  means 
of  papng  dues,  had  lost  two-thirds  or  three-quarters 
of  its  ordinary  value.  Hundreds  of  farms  were  de- 
serted, so  that  the  tyranny  of  the  nobles  did  not 
even  benefit  themselves.  The  movement  was  a  curi- 
ously exact  repetition  of  what  we  have  seen  before 
in  other  countries,  where  the  peasants,  by  a  change 
in  social  and  economic  conditions,  have  lost  their 
rights  in  the  soil,  and  sometimes  lost  their  liberty 
with  it. 

In  the  more  liberal  days  of  Alexander  II.,  when 
the  Fianish  Estates  were  once  more  convened  in  Diet, 
this  matter  was,  of  course,  one  of  the  prominent  ques- 
tions of  the  hour.  The  Emperor  would  not  adopt  the 
course   recommended   by   the   Finance   Committee   as 


THE  LAND  LAWS  OF  FINLAND  45 

well  as  by  the  whole  Diet,  and  examine  the  legality 
of  the  decree  of  1826,  which  had  given  the  full  rights 
of  ownership  in  their  estates  to  the  Russian  nobles. 
It  was  thought  better  to  make  an  attempt  to  purchase 
these  rights,  which  were  not  really  of  any  great  money 
value,  and  then  re-sell  the  farms  to  the  peasants. 
These  latter  would,  of  course,  be  obliged  to  pay  full 
value ;  to  act  otherwise  would  have  been  unjust  to 
the  taxpayers ;  and  it  was  calculated  that  the  pur- 
chase money  distributed  over  the  whole  population 
would  mean  an  increase  in  taxation  amounting  on  an 
average  to  sixty  marks  for  each  family  in  the  country. 
The  nobles,  it  was  thought,  would  be  satisfied  if  they 
received  sixteen  and  a  half  years'  purchase  of  their 
rents.  In  1867  the  Diet  gave  permission  to  borrow 
12,000,000  marks  for  this  purpose,  and  the  amount 
has  since  reached  17,500,000  marks.  Some  of  the 
nobles  sold  at  moderate  prices; — Countess  Varvara 
Mussin-Puschkin,  for  instance,  and  her  husband 
Captain  Kotchubei,  and  the  Russian  Department  of 
Mines,  which  demanded  only  1,250,000  marks  for 
four  northern  villages  with  12,000  inhabitants  and 
immense  forests,  which  were  kept  as  State  pro- 
perty. For  certain  other  estates  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  pay  more  than  the  estimated  sum ;  as,  for 
instance,  the  estate  of  Prince  Galitzin  with  its  5000 
inhabitants,  for  which  the  owner  asked  1,500,000 
marks,  the  estate  of  Baron  Freedericksz  with  its 
population  of  8000,  which  was  bought  for  2,500,000 
marks,  and  that  of  Prince  Oukhtomski,  which  also 
contained  a  population  of  8000,  and  for  which 
2,300,000  marks  were  paid.  The  estate  of  Ky3rrola 
has  recently  come  into  notice,  because  some  of  the 
peasants  there  sent,  and  induced  the  Emperor  to 
receive,    a   counter-address   to    the    addresses   of    the 


46  FINLAND 

Finnish  people  after  the  coup  d'Mat  of  1899,  when  the 
Emperor  issued  his  famous  Manifesto  of  February 
15  th.  This  estate  consists  of  three  villages  which, 
early  in  the  last  century,  were  settled  with  Greek 
Catholic  serfs,  who  had  been  drawn  from  the  interior 
of  Kussia  to  occupy  the  numerous  deserted  farms  of 
this  district.  The  average  price  paid  for  all  these 
estates  was  not,  however,  very  high,  varying  bet^vV^een 
two  and  twenty  marks  per  acre. 

The  farms  have  now  been  transferred  to  the  peasants 

on  such  conditions  that  in  hardly  any  case  are  they 

paying  more  than  their  old  rent.     They  were  supposed 

to  pay  5  per  cent,  on  the  purchase  money,  but  when 

the    government  was    able   to    convert  its    loan,    the 

interest  was  put  doAvn  to  4I  per  cent.     To  this  was 

added   i    per  cent,  for  amortisation,  so  that  they  can 

become  free  proprietors  in  from  36  to  39  years.     In 

some  cases  they  received  even  better  terms,   for  the 

value  of  the  State  forests  was  deducted  from  the  price, 

while    on    some    estates    the    landlord's    manor     was 

retained  by  the   government,  and  valued  at  a  higher 

figure.     To  some  parishes  large  forests  were  allotted 

as    common    property,    the    wood    of    which    is    sold 

under  government  supervision  at  a  considerable  profit. 

As  a  rule,  until  the  farm  has  been  fully  paid  for,  the 

peasants  would  not  be  allowed  to  sell  wood.     Some  of 

the  forests  are,  however,  said  to  have  been  very  badly 

managed,  and  it  is  suggested  that  too  small  a  portion 

of    them  has    been    reserved   for    government  forests. 

Some    persons    are    inchned   to  think    also    that    the 

peasants  have  obtained  too  soon  the  right  to  dispose 

of  their  farms.     Too  often  they  have  found  their  way 

to  the  money-lenders  in  spite  of  all  legal  precautions, 

and  under  the  form  of  a  loan,  have  sold  their  wood, 

and  sometimes  their  farms  as  well.     It  is  not  easy  to 


THE  LAND  LAWS  OF  FINLAND  47 

change  the  habits  of  a  race  which  has  grown  up  under 
harsh  treatment.     Progress,  however,  has  been  rapid. 
There  are  no  more  deserted  farms.     On  the  estate  of 
Kronoborg,  the  home  farm  has  been  turned  into  an 
agricultural  school,  greatly  to  the  benefit  of  the  agri- 
cultural folk  of  the  neighbourhood.     Much  benefit  has 
been  derived  on  the  same  estate  from  the  settlement 
of  Swedish  peasants  from  Ostrobothnia,  who  came  here 
after  the  famine  in  1 867-8.      Many  of  the  farms  have 
only    been    transferred     quite    recently,    because    the 
process  of  enclosure  had  to  be  finished  before  it  was 
possible  to  determine  what  each  tenant   had   to  pay. 
The    whole    reform    is    a    remarkable    example    of    a 
radical  change,  in  which  all  private  rights  have  been 
most  carefully  respected.     We,  for   our   part,   believe 
that  the  English  government   would  have  done  well 
to  treat  L-ish  land   in   the   same   manner,  instead  of 
depriving  the  landlords  of  part  of  their  property,  while 
at  the  same  time  they  left  the  tenants  discontented 
at  not  obtaining  a  clearly  defined  position.     There  is 
nothing  better  for  the  small  cultivator  of  the  soil  than 
owning  his  land,  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  it  may 
one  day  be  found  expedient  m  Ireland  to  imitate  on  a 
larger  scale  the  example  of  this  northern  country,  and 
purchase  big  estates  to  re-sell  to  the  tenants. 

It  was,  of  course,  highly  desirable  that  as  many  as 
possible  of  those  persons  who  have  no  home  of  their 
own  should  obtam  land.  Finland  is  inferior  to  the 
most  civilised  countries  of  Europe,  both  in  the  number 
of  Its  landed  proprietors  and  in  the  number  of  persons 
entirely  without  homes,  but  it  is  far  superior  in  both 
respects  to  the  less  civilised  nations  of  Southern  and 
Eastern  Europe.  There  are  better  openings  for  work- 
men nowadays,  and  a  larger  part  of  the  population 
can  now  live  without  homes  of  their  own,  and  without 


48  FINLAND 

agreements  for  continuous  work  in  one  place.  In  1 895 
the  "unattached"  population  of  Finland,  as  these  families 
are  called  who  have  no  fixed  home,  was  more  than  a 
third  of  the  total,  having  nearly  doubled  since  1877. 
They  are  especially  numerous  in  the  north  and  east, 
forming  in  some  parishes  as  much  as  seven-tenths  of 
the  population.  This,  of  course,  creates  a  certain 
dansrer.  It  takes  time  to  accommodate  the  habits 
of  a  population  to  new  places  and  new  circumstances. 
A  large  number  of  workmen  do  not  at  all  desire  any 
settled  home,  because  they  have  to  move  about  ac- 
cording to  the  locality  of  their  work.  This  is  the 
case  not  only  with  such  workmen  as  navvies,  but  with 
part  of  the  men  who  are  engaged  in  Finland's  great 
business,  the  lumber  trade.  Here,  as  in  the  United 
States  and  other  countries  where  this  trade  is  con- 
ducted on  a  large  scale,  there  must  necessarily  be  a 
number  of  workmen  who  at  certain  times  of  the  year 
live  out  in  the  woods  in  temporary  huts.  Besides,  in 
order  to  settle  down  successfully  on  the  land,  a  certain 
amount  of  capacity  and  also  of  money  is  necessary, 
even  if  the  settlers  become  torp-holders  and  not  pro- 
prietors. It  was  regarded  as  an  advance  when  the 
torp  system  was  introduced  from  Western  Finland  into 
certain  eastern  parts,  where  many  of  the  peasant  pro- 
prietors are  not  as  advanced  as  those  who  rent  land 
in  the  western  districts  and  pay  their  rent  in  labour. 
These,  also,  in  order  to  make  the  best  use  of  their 
holdings,  must  possess  a  certain  capacity  and  capital. 

It  is  always  desirable  to  remove  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  dividing  up  the  land.  Such  obstacles  in  the 
past  have  been  mainly  fiscal ;  the  subdivision  of  the 
peasant  farms,  for  instance,  would  have  jeopardised 
the  ability  of  the  peasants  to  pay  taxes.  Since  1864 
several  laws  have  been  passed  to  facilitate  this  sub- 


THE  LAND  LAWS  OF  FINLAND  49 

division.     According  to  the  land  law  of  1895,  however, 
it  is  still  illegal  to  subdivide  a  farm  into  smaller  areas 
than  twelve  acres ;  in  any  case  a  holding  of  this  size 
must  be  responsible  for  the  whole  tax.     This  prejudice 
against  very  small  holdings,  however  mistaken,  is  not 
confined  to  Finland.     There  is  no  object  in  trying  to 
retain  any  particular  class  of  peasant,  either  when  it  is 
proposed  to  subdivide  land  or  when  farms  are   being 
amalgamated   by    large    proprietors.     It   has  been  re- 
marked that  the  faciHties  for  owning  small  allotments 
have  been  made  use  of  more  by  inhabitants  of  towns 
who  have  bought  land,  than  by  agricultural  labourers! 
It  IS,  of  course,  an   excellent  practice  that  town-folk 
should  buy  land  in  the  country.     It  has  become  very 
noticeable   in  the  Eastern  States   of  North   America, 
where  thousands  of  farms  have  been  deserted  owing  to 
the  fall  in  the  price  of  grain  and  the  competition  of^the 
richer  farm  lands  of  the  West,  and  large  numbers  of 
these  abandoned  farms  have  been  acquired  by  persons 
in  the  neighbouring  cities,  to  whom  it  is  not  only  a 
pleasure  and  recreation  during  the  summer   to   farm 
their  land,  but  who  can  also  cultivate  it  with  better 
result  than  the  poor  and  uneducated  men  who  formerly 
owned  it.     Any  movement  in  this  direction  is  good. 

In  1887,  it  was  resolved  to  lend  money  without 
interest  in  order  to  aid  the  formation  of  torps  or 
small  plots  of  land  for  labourers  in  the  eastern  district 
of  Kuopio;  and  in  1892,  another  fund  was  opened  to 
help  the  subdivision  of  estates  in  other  parts  of  the 
country,  especially  the  district  of  Vasa  in  the  barren 
mterior  of  Ostrobothnia.  It  is  a  characteristic  fact, 
however,  that  many  of  the  new  proprietors,  who  had 
obtained  their  holdings  in  this  fashion,  hastened  to 
re-sell  them  to  other  people.  It  is  highly  important 
that   the   credit   system   should   be   enlarged   so    that 


so  FINLAND 

small  owners  of*  land  may  obtain  loans  easily;  the 
present  institutions  for  the  purpose  should  be  de- 
veloped, or  new  associations  formed.  The  Hypo- 
theksforening  (the  Credit  Foncier  of  Finland)  does 
not  lend  money  on  any  property  of  less  than  6000 
marks  in  value.  Other  funds,  formed  in  1892  and 
1896,  were  consolidated  in  1899  into  one  fund  of 
550,000  marks,  to  be  used  for  the  purchase  of  small 
building  lots  or  plots  of  land  for  homeless  persons, 
or  for  the  clearance  of  new  lands,  woods,  moors,  or 
marshes.  The  money  is  lent  to  parishes,  agricultural 
societies,  or  other  such  institutions,  for  forty  years 
at  2  per  cent,  interest.  They  may  either  buy  land, 
or  re-lend  the  money  for  this  purpose  to  private 
persons,  keeping  only  i  per  cent,  profit  for  them- 
selves. 

A  curious  episode  may  be  narrated  in  connection 
with  this  matter.  At  the  beginning  of  1899,  at  the 
time  of  the  coup  d'6tat,  there  appeared  suddenly  in 
Finland  a  number  of  the  pedlars  who  come  there 
sometimes  from  the  Russian  province  of  Archangel, 
and  are  often  men  of  Finnish  race  speaking  the 
Finnish  language.  These  pedlars  went  round  the 
country  promising  that  all  landless  persons  should 
receive  land  from  the  Russian  government  at  the 
expense  of  the  present  proprietors.  Such  emissaries 
are  often  employed  by  the  so-called  Society  of  Charity 
in  Moscow,  which  works  really  in  the  interests  of 
Panslavism,  and  often  in  close  connection  with  the 
Russian  government.  Political  agitations  have  been 
started  by  them  in  several  countries,  in  Bulgaria, 
for  instance.  The  lower  classes  in  Finland,  who  are 
as  patriotic  as  the  upper,  did  not  receive  these 
emissaries  at  all  kindly,  and  demanded  that  they 
should    be    prosecuted ;     it    being    illegal    for    foreign 


THE  LAND  LAWS  OF  FINLAND  51 

pedlars  to  go  about  in  Finland.     Some  parishes  used 
the  funds  out  of  which   rewards  are  paid  for  killing 
wild  beasts  for  the  purpose  of  prosecuting  and  punish- 
ing   the    pedlars.     A    decree  has   now,  however,  been 
published    under    an    order     from    St.     Petersburg— 
illegally,   because    no    such    matters    can    be    decided 
except  by  order  of  the  Diet— permitting  these  pedlars 
to  sell   their  wares  in  Finland.     The  Finnish  people 
who  were  perfectly  willing  before  to  do  business  with 
these  Archangel  traders,  have  accordingly  decided  to 
boycott  them,  and  nobody  will  now  have  any  dealin<^s 
with  them.     There  is  a  fear  that  if  the  hawkers  a?e 
successful,  they  will  settle  in  the  country,  bring  other 
settlers  of  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church,  and  so   fur- 
nish a   pretext  to  the  government  of  St.  Petersburg 
for    estabhshing    Greek    Orthodox    communities    and 
churches. 

Shortly  after  the  incursion  of  these  traders  from 
Archangel,  the  Emperor  decided  that  two  million 
marks  of  the  surplus  on  the  Finnish  budget  should  be 
used  to  assist  men  without  means  to  obtain  land ;  and 
a  committee  has  been  formed  to  arrange  for  the  most 
advantageous  employment  of  this  fund.  It  will  not, 
of  course,  produce  any  very  important  results  compared 
with  those  brought  about  by  natural  development.  In 
a  country  like  Finland  there  is  seldom  any  difficulty 
m  getting  land;  we  have  to  look  for  the  necessary 
capacity  for  using  it. 

The  usual  measures  have  been  taken  in  Fmland  to 
enable  workmen  to  provide  their  own  homes  in  towns 
We  may  mention  as  one  example  a  system  which 
we  have  studied  in  the  city  of  Abo,  by  which  cheap 
houses  can  be  bought  by  the  payment  of  small  instal- 
ments hardly  larger  than  the  usual  rent.  A  minor 
detail  of  this  arrangement  is  that  the  purchasers  of  the 


52  FINLAND 

houses  have  rooms  to  let  to  the  numerous  workmen 
who  are  satisfied  with  lodgings ;  and  the  purchasers 
can  thus  facilitate  their  own  payments.  This  practice 
of  poor  people  living  in  large  numbers  with  one  another 
is  a  peculiarity  of  the  life  of  the  common  people  in 
Finland,  an  evidence,  indeed,  of  their  good  nature,  but 
not  without  its  drawbacks.  Many  other  examples  might 
be  quoted  of  arrangements  made  for  providing  working 
men  with  homes,  arrangements  undertaken  either  by 
the  men  themselves  or  by  their  masters,  as  is  the  case 
in  other  countries,  and  is  natural  in  the  case  of  a 
country  so  advanced  as  Finland.  The  government  is 
authorised  to  lend  money  for  this  purpose  for  long 
periods  either  to  the  municipalities  of  the  cities  or  to 
companies,  the  interest  being  ^^  per  cent. 


CHAPTER   IV 

METHODS    AND    CONDITIONS    OF    AGRICULTURE 

The  greater  part  of  Finland  is  not  adapted  for  agri- 
culture. Geologically  the  country  belongs  to  the 
Scandinavian  peninsula,  and  not  to  the  great  plain  of 
Eastern  and  Northern  Europe.  It  consists  mainly  of 
granite,  gneiss,  and  glacial  formations,  the  greater  part 
of  which  is  poor  soil  for  agricultural  purposes.  Lakes 
and  rivers  are  numerous,  1 1  per  cent,  of  the  surface 
being  water,  or  as  much  as  19  per  cent,  in  Central 
Finland,  in  Savolaks  and  Carelia.  The  lakes  are  large 
hollows  formed  by  the  pressure  of  ice,  as  is  the  case  in 
Scotland,  and  are  even  more  numerous  than  those  in 
Scotland,  because  the  glaciation  in  Finland  seems  to 
have  taken  place  late,  and  the  consequent  formations 
to  be  therefore  in  a  relatively  unfinished  state.  Land 
and  water  are  not  yet  fully  separated.  In  addition  to 
the  lakes,  swamps  and  enormous  bogs  cover  one-fifth 
of  the  country,  or  nearly  half  in  some  parts  of  the 
east  and  north.  The  surface  consists  of  glacial 
formations,  partly  changed  by  the  action  of  the  sea 
after  glaciation ;  that  is  of  gravel  formed  of  stones, 
brash,  pebbles,  and  sand,  with  a  substratum  of  granite 
rocks,  and  often  littered  with  piles  of  loose  boulders. 
On  the  other  hand  there  are  also  large  plains,  chiefly 
formed  in  the  post-glacial  period  when  a  part  of  the 
country  was  covered  by  the  sea,  these  plains  being 
clay  and  comparatively  fertile.  They  are  found  chiefly 
in  Ostrobothnia  and  in  the  south,  in  Finland  proper 

53 


54  FINLAND 

and  Nyland  and  Carelia,  where  also  there  is  a 
comparatively  denser  population,  and  whence  comes 
most  of  the  grain.  In  comparison  with  Sweden, 
Finland  has  more  flat  country,  though  its  plains  are 
hardly  so  fertile  as  those  of  Upland,  Westergotland, 
and  Scania.  As  a  consequence  of  the  prevailing 
geological  formation,  the  soil  contains  a  good  deal  of 
potash  or  kaU.  On  the  other  hand  there  is  not  much 
chalk  or  limestone.  There  is  some  chalk  or  marble 
in  the  south-east,  and  shells  useful  for  agricultural 
purposes  are  found  in  Nyland,  in  Central  Ostrobothnia 
in  the  fertile  regions  of  Vasa  and  Kyro,  at  the  old 
convent  of  Nadendal  near  Abo,  and  on  the  island  of 
Aland,  where  also  there  is  some  good  marl.  The 
whole  of  the  land  used  for  agricultural  purposes  does 
not  amount  to  much  more  than  a  tenth  part  of  the 
country,  of  which  hardly  4  per  cent,  is  really  under 
cultivation,  and  5  per  cent,  is  grass  land.  The  land 
under  cultivation  and  capable  of  cultivation  is,  hov/- 
ever,  increasing  rapidly.  Finland  is  north  of  the  line 
where  the  surface  of  the  earth  rises  gradually  above 
the  sea-level,  and  it  is  now  continuing  to  rise  at  a  rate 
varying  from  .6  metre  per  century  in  the  Gulf  of 
Finland  to  1.5  metres  in  the  north  of  Ostrobothnia. 
Still  more  important  is  the  draining  of  the  lakes  and 
marshes,  due  partly  to  natural  causes  and  partly  to 
very  profitable  labour.  Even  in  Nyland,  where  culti- 
vation began  at  an  early  period,  the  amount  of  land 
under  cultivation  has  increased  by  more  than  one-third 
since  the  beginning  of  last  century.  Large  marshes 
have  been  and  are  still  being  drained  in  the  northern 
part,  especially  in  the  province  of  Ule&borg.  The 
government  assists  ^vith  money,  which  is  lent  through 
the  medium  of  the  parish  authorities. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  harsh  climate.     The 


METHODS  OF  AGRICULTURE  55 

August  frosts,  as  well  as  those  of  the  spring,  at  which 
time  there  is  often  a  long  drought,  are  a  serious  dis- 
advantage. In  the  north  the  winter  lasts  eight  months, 
in  the  south  five  months ;  and  Southern  Finland  has 
an  average  temperature  of  9°  Fahr.  above  freezing  point 
for  the  whole  year  against  5.4°  below  freezing  point  on 
the  river  Jenissei,  and  7.2°  in  Kamtschatka  in  the  same 
latitude.  Grain  ripens  well  in  the  far  north  of  Finland, 
and  barley  in  the  farthest  north  of  all.  We  find  barley 
as  far  north  as  the  pine ;  the  six- row  barley  farthest 
north ;  the  common  four-row  kind,  which  we  generally 
call  six-row,  farther  south  ;  and  the  more  valuable  two- 
row  kinds  (such  as  the  English  Prentice  barley)  farthest 
south  of  all.  As  a  rule  barley  predominates  among 
the  grains  grown  north  of  63.5° ;  it  was  the  first  grain 
cultivated,  the  Finns  having  been  in  possession  of  it 
before  they  came  into  the  country.  For  a  long  time 
nearly  all  bread  was  made  of  it,  and  it  is  still  the  staple 
article  of  food  in  parts  of  the  east  as  well  as  in  the 
wilds  of  the  north.  In  the  north-east  a  special  kind 
of  barley-bread  called  "  rieska "  is  baked  in  moulds 
made  of  birch  bark.  The  Swedish  name  for  barley, 
"  bjugg "  (Danish  "  byg "),  is  the  same  as  is  used  in 
Northern  and  Eastern  Danish  England.  Rye,  which 
was  introduced  by  the  Swedes  in  very  early  times, 
superseded  barley  to  some  extent  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  still  later  it  was  largely  replaced  by  oats. 
In  the  fourteenth  century  rye  was  cultivated  only  in 
parts  of  Southern  Finland.  In  the  eighteenth  century 
it  became,  however,  the  most  important  material  for 
bread,  and  is  now  cultivated  as  far  as  the  64  th  and 
65th  degrees  of  latitude.  In  the  years  subsequent  to 
1870  the  cultivation  of  rye  increased  enormously, 
but  later  still,  after  1887,  it  gave  place  to  oats.  Wheat 
has  only  recently,  and  to  some  extent,  been  introduced 


56  FINLAND 

in  the  south,  but  its  introduction  has  apparently  been 
a  success.  Oats  grow  as  far  north  as  the  Arctic  circle, 
and  have  increased  in  value  with  the  increase  of  dairy 
business.  They  are  especially  well  adapted  for  newly- 
tilled  land ;  and  more  room  has  been  given  to  them  in 
the  recent  and  more  scientifically  arranged  rotation  of 
crops,  in  which,  after  the  green  crops,  a  place  is  found 
for  other  grains  than  those  needed  for  bread.  Finally, 
there  is  now  less  difference  in  price  between  the  grains, 
which  is  to  the  advantage  of  oats.  In  Eastern  Finland 
oats  are  also  used  for  bread ;  but  mainly  they  are  used 
for  cattle-food,  for  which  there  is  now  a  greater  demand. 
They  are  also  exported.  "  Hafre,"  the  Swedish  word 
for  oats,  is  almost  the  same  as  the  "  haver  "  of  Northern 
England.  In  the  period  1866-70  rye  represented  48 
per  cent,  of  the  total  harvest,  barley  28  per  cent.,  and 
oats  only  24,  but  in  1891-95  oats  had  advanced  to  47 
per  cent.,  rye  decreased  to  36  and  barley  to  16  per 
cent,  of  the  total.  In  the  province  of  Uleilborg,  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  country,  barley  still  represents 
more  than  60  per  cent,  and  oats  not  10  per  cent,  of 
the  crops. 

A  peculiar  process  is  the  Finnish  method  of  drying 
the  grain  in  special  houses,  "  riar,"  as  they  are  called. 
In  the  late  and  cold  harvest  season  the  sheaves  are 
dried  first  on  stakes  and  then,  according  to  the  custom 
of  all  Finnish  peasants,  in  the  riar  before  thrashing. 
For  this  purpose  the  peasants  make  free  use  of  their 
abundant  fire-wood,  burning  a  fire  for  three  or  four 
days  in  a  peculiar  oven  without  a  chimney,  which  is 
used  also  for  various  other  purposes.  This  method 
of  drying  the  grain  by  heat  and  smoke  kills  the 
insects  which  destroy  the  germs  of  the  grain,  and 
this  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  Finnish  rye  from  Vasa 
or  from  Nyland  is  so  highly  valued  for  seed  purposes. 


METHODS  OF  AGRICULTUKE  57 

Formerly,  before  the  present  duties  checked  this  class 
of  import,  the  Swedes  preferred  to  use  Finnish  rye  as 
seed ;  they  could  manage  with  a  smaller  quantity  than 
if  they  used  their  own  rye.  Very  possibly  other 
countries  would  find  it  profitablo  to  adopt  this  former 
practice  of  the  Swedes.  The  great  farms  often  dry 
their  sheaves  of  rye,  especially  for  seed;  while  with 
other  kinds  of  grain  they  do  not  take  this  trouble,  but 
only  dry  it  after  thrashing,  as  is  done  in  other  countries. 
Buckwheat,  used  chiefly  as  human  food,  is  grown  on 
some  of  the  burnt-over  lands  in  Eastern  Finland. 
Hemp,  as  well  as  flax,  has  been  grown  in  the  country 
from  very  old  times ;  the  Kalevala,  the  great  Finnish 
mythical  epic,  dating  from  the  later  days  of  Paganism, 
speaks  of  both,  as  well  as  of  the  common  kinds  of 
grain ;  but  hemp  is  not  much  cultivated  now,  and  only 
in  Eastern  and  Northern  Finland.  Flax,  which  is  well 
adapted  for  newly-cultivated  grass  land,  is  more  largely 
used,  and  is  in  considerable  demand  in  the  country 
round  Tammerfors,  where  linen  is  manufactured.  It 
is  more  carefully  tended  here  than  in  Russia,  and  is 
therefore  whiter. 

In  addition  to  the  ordinary  turnip,  which  has 
recently  been  introduced  into  Finland,  a  particular 
variety,  yellow  in  colour  with  red  or  green  tops,  was 
grown  formerly  to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  ashes  of 
the  burnt  forests.  This  variety  can  be  grown  as  far 
north  as  the  lake  of  Enare  (69 1  degrees),  and  is  still 
used  there,  as  well  as  in  the  east,  for  human  food. 
Generally,  however,  it  has  been  abandoned  for  the 
potato.  In  the  south,  mangels  are  grown  successfully; 
and  in  a  district  near  Abo,  where  a  factory  for  pro- 
ducing raw  sugar  from  mangels  was  established,  it  was 
suggested  that  the  mangels  contained  as  much  sugar 
here  as  they  do  farther  south.     The  factory,  however, 


58  FINLAND 

failed.  The  growth  of  turnips  and  mangels,  which  are 
well  suited  to  the  rich  newly-drained  peat-bogs  and 
marshes,  will,  of  course,  be  much  increased  by  the 
extension  of  dairy  business. 

Among  cultivated  grasses  the  Timothy  grass  {Phleum 
pratc7ise)  is  the  most  valuable.  Experiments  have  been 
made  with  other  grasses  adapted  to  a  northern  climate, 
and  it  is  found  that  the  Alsike  clover  {Trifolmni  hylri- 
dum)  succeeds  well.  The  red  clover  suffers  from  the 
frost,  especially  in  the  far  north.  Other  grasses, 
particularly  the  fox-tail  meadow  grass  (Alopecurus 
pratensis),  the  ordinary  orchard  or  coxfoot  grass  {Dactylis 
glomcrata),  the  meadow  or  tall  fescue  {Festuca  elatior), 
one  of  the  brome-grasses  {Bromus  arvensis),  and  still 
others  are  now  cultivated.  On  uncultivated  land, 
especially  if  it  has  been  burnt  over,  several  valuable 
grasses,  largely  belonging  to  the  same  families,  are 
found,  even  the  celebrated  blue  grass  of  America  (Poa 
jrratensis).  In  wet  meadows  there  are,  of  course,  plenty 
of  the  common  sedges  and  rushes,  which  are  not  with- 
out value.  On  the  whole,  the  natural  pasture  land  is 
of  very  varying  value,  from  the  poorest  pasture  land 
which  is  found  in  many  of  the  woods,  to  the  fine 
meadows  which  reach  their  largest  area  near  the  big 
rivers  of  Ostrobothnia,  as  well  as  by  the  Vuoksi  and 
the  Kymmene  and  other  minor  rivers  in  the  south. 
In  the  province  of  Ule§,borg  in  the  north  and  in 
Vasa,  it  is  still  the  custom  to  send  cattle  to  distant 
pastures  for  the  summer  and  keep  them  under  super- 
vision there. 

The  result  of  grain  cultivation  in  Finland  is  not 
very  great.  Nevertheless,  as  is  generally  the  case  in 
Europe,  where  a  regular  rotation  of  fallow  and  green 
crops  is  the  custom,  it  is  superior  to  results  gained  in 
the  United  States,  where  also  the  inclement  climate  in 


METHODS  OF  AGRICULTURE  59 

most  of  the  States  exposes  the  grain  to  several  dangers 
during  the  most  important  period  of  its  growth.  On 
an  average  rye  and  wheat  return  7  for  one  (up  to 
1866  it  was  only  6  for  rye);  barley  about  5  for  one, 
and  oats  5^  for  one  (against  4  in  1866).  The  value 
of  the  whole  harvest  in  1895  was  estimated  at 
45^  million  marks  of  rye,  17I  million  marks  of  barley, 
3  6  millions  of  oats,  i  h  millions  of  peas  and  beans,  i  of 
mixed  grain,  I2f  of  potatoes,  and  only  half  a  million 
marks  of  turnips.  The  total  harvest  amounted  to 
114I  million  marks.  The  harvest  of  1896  was 
estimated  at  136  million  marks;  and  these  amounts 
will  be  considerably  increased  with  the  development 
of  the  dairy  business.  The  production  of  grain  has 
increased  largely  during  the  last  generation;  it  doubled 
in  amount  between  1861  and  1895,  ^^^  its  proportion 
to  the  population  has  increased  from  less  than  4^ 
hectolitres  per  head  in  1866  to  nearly  sh  hectolitres 
per  head  in  1896.  Moreover,  the  consumption  has 
increased  still  more  rapidly,  and  Finland  cannot  now 
produce  sufficieut  grain  for  its  own  use.  The  fact  that 
importation  has  increased  even  per  head  of  the  popu- 
lation during  the  last  few  years  may  be  regarded  as 
a  proof  that  the  country  is  growing  in  wealth  and 
prosperity. 

The  old  Finnish  method  of  agriculture  was  to  burn 
down  the  woods  and  sow  seeds  in  the  ashes  round  the 
roots  and  stumps.  This  is  profitable  enough  for  the 
persons  who  do  it  when  neither  the  timber  nor  land 
is  of  much  value.  Indeed,  during  the  last  generation 
peasants  have  even  grown  rich  b}'  this  method,  which 
is  called  the  "svedje-bruk,"  its  more  successful  prac- 
titioners having  been  known  as  "  svedje- kings."  But 
in  modern  times,  when  timber  and  land  are  both 
valuable,  this  method  means  the  destruction  of  capital. 


6o  FINLAND 

The  government  tried  some  hundreds  of  years  ago  to 
stop  this  method  of  cultivation ;  and  it  has  now  been 
decided  that  the  burning  of  the  forests  may  only  be 
repeated  at  intervals  of  thirty  years  where  the  forest  is 
of  hard  wood,  at  intervals  of  forty  years  where  it  is 
soft  wood,  and  not  at  all  on  stony  soil  or  rock  thinly 
covered  with  humus,  or  in  pine-forests  with  heath  or 
sandy  soil ;  while  only  two  crops  may  be  taken  after 
the  burning.  Some  of  these  restrictions  must  be 
recjarded  as  a  mistake.  In  Western  Finland  this 
forest  burning  is  now  very  little  practised,  though  it  is 
still  common  in  parts  of  the  East.  Over  the  whole  of 
Finland  only  a  small  percentage  of  the  grain  harvest 
comes  from  this  method  of  cultivation,  though  more 
than  half  the  harvest  is  so  produced  in  Carelia  and 
Savolaks  (parts  of  the  present  province  of  St.  Michel 
and  Southern  Kuopio)  and  some  other  parts  of  the 
country.  The  first  crop  after  the  burning  sometimes 
gives  a  return  of  50  to  i,  and  when  it  is  no  longer 
possible  to  get  good  harvests  of  grain  the  grazing  is 
fine  for  some  years  afterwards.  To  burn  the  mosses 
and  undergrowth  when  the  timber  has  been  removed 
is  often  desirable.  As  a  rule  it  is  better  to  use  burnt 
forest  land  for  some  years  for  grain  production,  and 
afterwards  for  grazing  purposes,  and  plant  new  woods 
on  old  worn-out  grass  land  and  heath.  These  burnt- 
over  woods  are  used  for  agricultural  purposes  in  France 
(where  the  process  is  called  "  sartage "  or  "  (^cobu- 
age  "),  in  the  Ardennes,  in  the  Alps,  and  in  Germany, 
notable  examples  being  found  in  Odenwald.  A  far 
more  pernicious  practice  is  the  burning  of  old  grass 
land,  the  fire  being  covered  in  with  turf  and  allowed 
to  burn  downwards.  This  has  been  done  on  low 
ground  bare  of  trees,  and  the  land  then  made  to  yield 
crops  of  oats  till  it  is  completely  barren. 


METHODS  OF  AGRICULTURE  6i 

The  old  rotation  of  crops  in  Finland,  as  in  most  of 
Northern  and  Central  Europe,  is  to  plant  two  out  of 
three  fields  with  grain.  In  Finland  the  two-field 
system  also  has  been  much  used,  because  it  was 
thought  advantageous  and  cheap  to  cultivate  rye  in 
alternate  years,  allowing  the  fields  to  lie  fallow  in 
the  other  years.  This  is  still  extensively  done  in 
Upland,  the  part  of  Sweden  opposite  Southern  Finland, 
as  the  best  means  of  producing  wheat  in  loam  or  clay 
soil.  It  may  pay  so  long  as  land  is  of  little  value  and 
when  sufficient  pasture  land  is  to  be  found  elsewhere. 
To-day,  when  it  is  desirable  to  cultivate  oats  and 
grasses  on  the  plough  land,  a  better  system  of  rotation 
is  being  introduced  and  is  now  common  over  large 
districts,  especially  on  the  big  farms  ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  peasants  retain  the  old  rotation.  In 
the  north  the  cultivation  of  artificial  grasses  is 
neglected. 

To  carry  out  this  scientific  system  of  rotation  it 
is  necessary  to  produce  more  manure  ;  and  for  this 
purpose  farmers  have  begun  to  import  several  kinds  of 
artificial  manure,  kainite,  crushed  bone  and  phosphates, 
especially  the  Thomas-phosphate  from  ironworks,  to 
the  value  of  about  500,000  marks  a  year.  An  import 
duty  has  been  put  on  salts  from  Stassfurt  and  on 
nitrates.     Crushed  bone  is  produced  in  Finland. 

In  old  days  farming  implements  were  used  in 
Finland  which  were  unknown  in  other  parts  of  Europe, 
indicative  of  a  backward  stage  of  development.  Some 
were  especially  connected  with  the  burning  of  the 
forests.  Among  these  is  the  forked  plough,  a  very  old 
implement  consisting  of  two  long  forks  which  move 
the  earth  without  turning  it  over.  It  is  an  even  more 
elementary  implement  than  the  angle-plough  of  the 
Slavs,    which    in    ancient    writings    was    described    as 


62  FINLAND 

peculiar  to  them.  The  Romans  and  Teutons  used  the 
"  aratrum  "  or  turning-plough,  supposed  to  have  been 
introduced  into  Finland  by  the  Swedes.  Another  very 
primitive  implement  is  the  branch-harrow,  formed  by 
a  bundle  of  branches  or  fir-tops,  the  stumps  of  the 
branches  being  left  on  and  used  as  harrow  teeth.  The 
fork-plough  and  branch-harrow  are  still  used  by  the 
peasants  of  the  east.  Side  by  side  with  these  ancietit 
implements  in  many  parts  of  the  country  we  now  tind 
the  newest  models.  Every  sort  of  machine  is  now 
in  use,  up  to  steam  ploughs  and  an  electric  thrash- 
ing-machine. Many  implements  are  imported  from 
England,  Sweden,  and  the  United  States,  but  many 
more  are  now  manufactured  in  the  country.  In 
1885,  when  the  Customs  tariff  was  revised  owing  to 
some  antagonism  between  Russia  and  Germany,  a 
small  duty  was  put  on  farming  implements  and 
machinery ;  the  duty  was  trifling,  but  it  was  a 
hmdrance  to  the  importation  of  certain  kinds  of  heavy 
machinery.  The  variable  amount  of  such  imports, 
which  at  one  time  showed  an  actual  decrease,  is  due 
chiefly  to  the  establishment  of  machine  manufactories 
in  Finland.  Recently  machinery  has  once  more  been 
imported  from  other  countries  in  comparatively  large 
quantities. 

No  animal  is  more  beloved  by  the  Finnish  peasant 
than  his  horse.  The  horse  deserves  it,  being  strong, 
speedy,  and  patient.  When  the  question  arose  of 
improving  the  stock  by  foreign  blood,  the  stalUons 
from  the  Norwegian  Gudbrandsdal  were  preferred ; 
but  the  well-built  though  not  very  large  Finnish 
horses,  usually  roan,  bay,  or  brown,  compare  most 
favourably  with  the  best  Norwegian  horses.  They 
number  about  300,000,  and  though  the  number  is  not 
increasing,  as  could  hardly  be  expected  in  these  days 


METHODS  OF  AGRICULTURE  63 

of  mechanical  forces,  it  is  not  decreasing.  The  great 
progress  of  agriculture  naturally  demands  more  horses. 
Formerly  a  considerable  number  were  exported  to 
Sweden ;  but  Sweden  has  now  imposed  a  duty  of  1 00 
kroner  per  horse  on  such  imports,  and  more  horses  are 
now  sent  to  Russia.  It  is  remarkable  that  a  consider- 
able number  are  found  near  the  river  Torne^,  and  it 
seems  that  thousands  of  horses  pass  this  frontier  by 
themselves — which  is  one  way  of  evading  the  bad 
eflfects  of  import  duty.  The  Finnish  horses  sent  over 
to  Sweden  to  take  part  in  trotting-matches  invariably 
won,  until  the  Swedes  deliberately  raised  the  height 
of  the  competing  horses,  so  excluding  the  Finnish 
competitors. 

Finland  contains  about  1,100,000  sheep,  and  the 
number  does  not  appear  to  increase  much.  On  the 
large  farms,  indeed,  the  number  has  decreased  consider- 
ably ;  as  is  the  case  in  several  other  northern 
countries,  where  it  is  now  found  more  profitable  to 
increase  the  number  of  cows.  The  number  of  sheep 
owned  by  the  poorer  class  of  peasant  is,  however, 
increasing  as  they  grow  more  prosperous ;  so  that  in 
the  west,  where  the  peasants  are  better  off  than  in  the 
east,  the  number  is  larger.  The  breed  is  a  very  poor 
one,  owing  to  the  barren  pastures  and  to  lack  of 
attention  during  the  winter ;  but  it  is  being  improved 
by  the  importation  of  southdowns  and  other  English 
varieties  suited  to  the  country. 

In  the  farthest  north,  on  the  tundras  of  the  Lapps, 
the  reindeer  is  invaluable,  and  no  other  animal  could 
take  its  place.  It  not  only  provides  milk,  meat,  and 
skin  for  clothes  and  other  purposes,  but  it  does  the 
work  of  the  horse,  three  reindeer  being  able  to  draw 
as  much  as  one  horse.  For  some  years  the  number  of 
them  decreased  steadily,  partly  because  the  wandering 


64  FINLAND 

of  the  Lapps  over  the  Norwegian  frontier  was  no 
longer  allowed.  Between  1880  and  1897,  however, 
the  number  increased  from  53,000  to  117,000.  The 
government  foresters  complain  of  the  destruction  of 
the  forests  by  their  trampling  and  grazing,  more  than 
of  the  valueless  trees  being  felled  to  get  lichen  for 
their  food.  When  the  rein-lichen  is  not  found  on  the 
tundras  it  takes  from  60  to  100  trees  to  provide  fdod 
for  one  reindeer. 

Cattle  are  growing  in  number  faster  than  any  other 
animal;  between  1865  and  1897  they  increased  from 
I  to  i^  million,  the  cows  alone  increasing  from 
671,000  to  1,080,000;  and  the  numbers  must  now 
be  still  larger.  In  certain  parts  of  the  country,  notably 
in  the  backward  districts  of  the  east,  it  was  the 
custom  to  keep  a  large  herd  of  cows,  extravagantly 
large  in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  cultivated  land. 
There  was  ample  pasture  during  the  summer,  and  the 
cattle  had  to  get  through  the  winter  as  best  they  could. 
Now  the  number  of  cattle  is  increasing  in  the  wealthier 
districts  and  on  the  best  managed  farms,  where  they 
are  no  longer  regarded  as  a  necessary  evil  chiefly 
useful  for  the  obtaining  of  manure,  but  as  a  source 
of  considerable  profit.  On  the  large  farms  we  find 
a  mixed  breed  of  different  races.  Among  imported 
cattle  the  Ayrshires  are  preferred,  and,  as  in  Sweden, 
are  found  to  be  well  suited  to  the  pasture  land  of  the 
country.  Some  valuable  animals  have  been  obtained, 
for  instance,  from  the  herds  of  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch. 
Good  Ayrshire  cows  give  about  2300  kilos  of  milk, 
red  imported  Danish  cows  about  2900,  and  Jerseys  an 
even  better  result.  At  present  the  Finns  have  great 
confidence  in  their  own  breeds,  which  can  be  improved 
and  developed,  they  think,  to  suit  the  characteristic 
features  of  their  pastures.     In  the  north  is  found  a 


METHODS  OF  AGRICULTURE  65 

small  white  polled  cow,  closely  related   to  the  Swedish 
cow  from  JaDitland;   this  is  a  small  momitain  breed, 
found   chiefly  in  the  country  along   the    Tornea  and 
Kemi  rivers.     The  breed  which  the  farmers  are  now 
especially  trying  to  develop  is  a  little  larger  than  these, 
and  found  mostly  round  Kiuruvesi  in  the  north-east.' 
It  is  light  red  in  colour  with  white  spots,  mostly  with 
a   white    head    and   a   white    line   on    the    back.     In 
Southern  Finland  the  breed  is  rather  larger,  and  more 
often  dark  red  in  colour,  or  sometimes  white  with  red 
spots.     A  cow  of  Finnish  breed  usually  weighs  about 
660   pounds  and  gives  from    1300   to   2300   kilos  of 
milk  per  annum ;  the  milk  being  fairly  rich,  so  that 
from   17  to  20   kilos  go  to  a  kilo  of  butter.     It  is  a 
question,  however,  whether  the  better  class  of  farmers 
will  care  to  wait  for  the  development  of  these  native 
breeds.     At  the  cattle-shows  to-day  cows  of  Finnish 
breed   meet  with   especial   recognition,  as   do  also,  to 
some  extent,  the  Ayrshires. 

Coincidently  with  the  increase  of  dairy  business, 
more  pigs  are  kept ;  though  at  present  there  are  only 
some  200,000  of  them.  The  Finnish  pig  is  accustomed 
to  living  in  the  woods  and  on  the  pasture  lands,  and 
does  not  therefore  fatten  as  rapidly  and  cheaply  as 
is  desirable.  The  ordinary  good  English  breeds  are 
being  imported.  The  duty  on  maize  in  Finland,  as  in 
Sweden,  is  a  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  keeping  and 
fattening  pigs;  it  is  2  marks  25  p.  per  100  kilos  on 
all  maize^  coming  from  other  countries  than  Russia, 
and  to  bring  it  from  Russia  does  not  pay  so  well.  The 
duty  on  maize  is  also  sufficient  to  prevent  any  profit 
from  poultry-keeping  on  a  large  scale,  a  business  which 
has  not  met  with  much  attention  in  Finland.  The 
Danish  farmers  regard  the  free  import  of  maize  as 
one  of  the   main   reasons  why   they  are   superior   to 


£ 


66  FINLAND 

Sweden  in  the  production  of  bacon  and  eggs,  so  that 
they  can  even  export  both  to  Sweden. 

The  total  value  of  domestic  animals  in  Finland  to- 
day is  more  than  100,000,000  marks.  The  figures  in 
1895  were  estimated  to  be  as  follows:  Horses,  27 
millions ;  reindeer,  2h  millions ;  sheep,  6h  millions ; 
cattle  (including  bulls  and  calves),  62^  millions: 
swine,  4  millions ;  poultry,  about  half  a  million ;  the 
total  being  1 04  millions.  The  export  of  animals ,  in 
1899  amounted  to  26^  million  marks  against  an 
import  value  of  3  millions. 

For  the  moment  the  progress  of  the  dairy  business 
appears  to  be  the  most  important  feature  in  Finnish 
agriculture.  Cheese-making  has  not  yet  become  an 
important  item  of  it,  though  on  many  large  farms  a 
good  Gruyere  is  produced,  and  the  manufacture  of 
several  finer  kinds  has  lately  been  attempted.  But 
it  is  the  production  of  butter  which,  in  Finland  as 
in  Denmark  and  Sweden,  has  attained  the  greatest 
importance,  and  yet  larger  results  are  expected. 
Butter  in  Finland  is  mentioned  in  early  Christian 
times,  when  the  bishops  spoke  of  butter  as  part  of 
what  was  paid  to  the  priest  by  peasants  in  the 
islands  and  other  parts  of  the  country.  In  more 
modem  times,  some  generations  ago,  the  peasants 
in  the  east,  in  Carelia  and  Savolaks,  understood  the 
ait  of  making  good  butter  during  the  summer.  In 
winter  the  cattle  were  too  poorly  fed  for  butter- 
making  to  be  possible ;  but  at  this  time  of  year 
the  more  skilful  peasants  of  Ostrobothnia  had  butter 
for  sale.  After  the  hard  years  of  1864  and  1868 
great  efforts  were  made  to  arrange  a  larger  export 
of  butter.  At  first  the  export  consisted  of  peasant 
butter,  which  naturally  was  not  of  the  finest  quality ; 
but   in    1870  the  use  of  cold  water  and  ice,  an  ex- 


METHODS  OF  AGRICULTURE  ey 

cellent  method  first  employed  by  Herr  Swartz,  on 
the  Hofgiird  near  Norrkoping  in  Sweden,  was  intro- 
duced into  Finland  as  well  as  into  other  northern 
countries ;  and  it  was  largely  due  to  this  that  some 
years  later,  in  1880,  the  owners  of  the  "herre- 
g&rdar "  or  gentlemen  farmers,  began  to  export  good 
butter.  On  the  other  hand,  after  1870,  the  peasants 
had  less  butter  to  sell ;  this  was  the  time  when 
they  were  beginning  to  make  more  money  by  selling 
timber,  and,  as  a  consequence,  they  lived  more  coin- 
fortably  than  formerly,  and  the  peasant  butter  was 
consumed  in  the  country  itself.  From  1868  to 
1884  the  export  barely  exceeded  5000  tons  a  year, 
but  after  the  latter  date  Finland  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  Denmark  and  introduced  large  creameries, 
which  collect  the  milk  of  the  peasants,  and  make 
it  possible,  by  a  scientific  method  of  production,  to 
realise  comparatively  high  prices.  As  a  consequence 
of  this,  the  cattle  are  better  tended,  especially  in 
winter  time,  and  agriculture  in  general  is  improved. 
In  Finland  to-day,  as  in  Denmark,  thousands  of  these 
creameries  have  been  established,  many  of  them  being 
of  some  considerable  size ;  and  this  is  the  case  not 
only  in  the  more  advanced  districts  of  the  south-west, 
and  in  the  two  Ostrobothnian  provinces  of  Vasa  and 
Uleilborg,  but  also  in  the  once  backward  north-eastern 
district.  The  Finnish  creameries  are  not  formed  into 
co-operative  associations  so  often  as  they  are  in  Den- 
mark; a  relatively  large  number  of  them  have  been 
established  by  men  of  means,  who  buy  the  milk  from 
their  neighbours.  In  connection  with  the  creameries, 
some  skimming-centres  have  been  established,  and 
many  of  the  peasant  dairies  use  hand-separators  and 
other  improved  machinery.  Of  late,  however,  the 
co-operative  movement  is  spreading  in  Finland.     An 


68  FINLAND 

interesting  experiment  is  being  made  by  Herr  Artliur 
Borgstrom,  who  has  established  a  large  creamery  in 
the  port  of  Hango,  and  who  buys  frozen  cream,  using 
a  method  which  resembles  that  in  use  in  Denmark 
to  freeze  part  of  the  milk.  From  about  fifty  stations, 
some  of  them  hundreds  of  miles  away,  and  some  yet 
farther  off  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  country,  cream 
is  now  sent  to  Hango  by  railway.  During  the  w6ek 
the  peasants  pour  one  lot  of  cream  on  another,  the 
whole  being  frozen  to  a  soft  mass ;  then  once  a  week 
a  man  takes  the  cream  of  the  whole  neighbourhood  to 
the  station,  so  minimising  the  expense  of  transport. 
The  whole  business  of  these  big  creameries  is  new 
to  Finland,  but  it  is  admirably  worked.  The  machines 
are  foreign,  partly  English,  and  the  special  dairy 
machinery  usually  comes  from  Denmark.  The  in- 
dustry, however,  as  has  been  said,  is  in  its  infancy, 
and  could  be  developed  considerably  by  obtaining 
better  cows,  better  food,  and  more  scientific  cultiva- 
tion and  rotation  of  the  crops.  The  export  of  butter 
increased  to  thirty  million  marks  in  1897.  It  has 
decreased  slightly  since  then,  merely  because  the 
better  wages  and  generally  increased  prosperity  of 
the  past  few  years  have  permitted  the  people  to  use 
more  butter  as  well  as  other  luxuries. 

To  forbid  the  import  of  margarine  was  a  mistake ; 
the  great  consumption  of  it  in  Denmark,  for  instance, 
increased  the  export  of  the  more  valuable  butter. 
Denmark  itself,  the  country  which  has  to  some  ex- 
tent been  copied  by  Finland  in  its  dairy  work,  has 
not  entirely  escaped  imwise  legislation  in  this  depart- 
ment of  its  industry.  The  colouring  of  the  margarine 
has  been  forbidden,  and  conditions  have  been  imposed 
on  its  sale,  some  of  which  limitations  have  induced 
Danish  manufacturers  to  establish  factories  for  mar- 


METHODS  OF  AGRICULTURE  69 

garine  in  England  instead  of  Denmark.  Finland  has 
not  followed  Denmark  in  its  over-hasty  legislation 
about  the  Pasteurisation  of  the  milk;  legislation 
which  necessitated  an  immediate  change  in  dairy 
implements,  steam-engines,  boilers,  and  even  build- 
ings; and  this  though  it  has  not  yet  been  decided 
whether  Pasteurisation  decreases  the  value  of  milk 
as  food ! 

The  creamery  business  is  the  highest  development  of 
modern  agriculture  in  Northern  Europe.  It  does  not 
interfere  with  the  production  of  grain  ;  on  the  contrary, 
as  we  see  in  Finland,  this  increases  with  the  better  care 
and  feeding  of  cattle.  The  creamery  is  a  manufacturing 
business  which,  in  its  whole  character,  and  owing  to  its 
demand  for  co-operation,  presupposes  a  considerable 
development  in  the  education  of  the  people ;  and  for 
the  same  reasons  it  will  produce  a  noticeable  economic 
result.  What  has  already  been  done  in  Finland  testi- 
fies to  the  high  state  of  education  there.  It  is  abso- 
lutely astonishing  to  read  in  a  journal  which  is  now 
published  simultaneously  in  Finnish  and  Russian  by 
an  arrangement  of  the  present  Governor-General, 
a  series  of  articles  asserting  that  the  country  is 
being  pauperised  by  this  creamery  business,  which, 
according  to  the  writer,  uses  up  all  the  grain  and 
grasses,  and  necessitates  the  importation  of  extra  food 
for  cattle.  The  right  thing  to  do,  says  this  semi- 
official organ  of  the  Governor- General,  is  to  produce 
more  rye,  use  it  for  the  distillation  of  the  form  of 
whisky  known  as  briinnvin,  and  use  the  refuse  as 
a  cheap  food  for  cattle.  The  Finns  themselves,  on 
the  contrary,  hold  the  same  opinion  as  the  Swedes, 
among  others,  that  it  has  been  a  great  step  in  ad- 
vance to  replace  the  numerous  small  distilleries  by 
creameries,    which   are   far   more  profitable  and   have 


70  FINLAND 

none  of  the  evil  accompaniments  of  distilleries.  The 
Finns  have,  as  we  shall  see,  diminished  their  consump- 
tion of  whisky,  or  brannvin,  by  one-half. 

The  total  agricultural  products  of  Finland  for 
[896  have  been  estimated  at  306  million  marks  of 
grain;  iioo  litres  of  milk  per  cow,  which,  allowing 
for  1,100,000  cows  and  a  price  of  10  penni  per  litre, 
represents  1 2 1  millions  of  marks ;  and  finally  5  o 
millions  for  meat,  eggs,  &c.  It  ought  to  be  possible 
to  double  this  total  within  the  next  few  years  ;  since  in 
Denmark  the  same  number  of  cows  is  estimated  to 
produce  more  than  double  this  amount  of  mUk,  or  a 
total  of  200  million  kroner  against  an  expenditure  of 
150  millions  ;  and  the  Danes  are  increasing  their  pro- 
duction every  year.  The  Finns  have  ample  room  for 
expansion. 

The  Finnish  government  has,  as  a  rule,  ably 
seconded  the  efforts  of  the  farmers.  In  1892  a  Board 
of  Agriculture  was  established,  and  the  government 
has  given  advice  and  technical  assistance,  lending  the 
services  of  engineers,  experts  in  agriculture  and  dairy 
work,  and  other  specialists.  Models  provided  by 
Sweden  have  been  adopted  and  improved  upon  ;  and 
experimental  businesses  have  been  established.  For 
years  an  excellent  school,  due  especially  to  the  efforts 
of  Herr  N.  Grotenfelt,  has  been  in  working  order  at 
Mustiala ;  later  on,  as  has  been  mentioned,  another 
school  was  established  on  the  estate  of  Kronoborg,  and 
a  whole  series  of  dairy  schools  and  lower-grade  schools 
was  founded  on  farms  belonging  to  the  government 
or  on  private  farms.  Higher  grade  agricultural  in- 
struction is  now  being  introduced  at  the  University  of 
Helsingfors.  It  is  sometimes  asserted  that  in  addition 
to  what  has  been  done  for  the  education  of  the  upper- 
class    farmers  and  their  assistants,  more  might  have 


METHODS  OF  AGRICULTURE  71 

been  done  for  the  peasants  ;  but  there  is  this  difficulty, 
that  the  present  Russian  Governor-General  is  not  in 
favour  of  the  peasants  obtaiuing,  as  they  wish,  a  general 
education  together  with  technical  knowledge.  It  is  a 
noteworthy  fact  that  the  peasants  send  their  sons  to 
school  ia  larger  numbers  in  bad  years,  when  there  is 
less  to  do  in  the  country.  Schools  in  Ostrobothnia 
have  very  few  pupils  just  now  on  account  of  the  great 
increase  in  emigration. 

In  Finland,  as  in  other  countries,  much  good  work 
has  been  done  by  private  associations.  The  Imperial 
Economic  Society  of  Finland,  with  headquarters  in 
Abo,  was  established  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  To-day  "  Hushallssallskaper  "  exist  in  each 
separate  province ;  also  parish  associations ;  a  large 
dairy  association,  which  is  making  vigorous  eflforts  to 
organise  the  sale  of  butter  in  England  ;  an  association, 
established  in  1 894,  for  the  cultivation  of  peat-bogs  ; 
and  several  others.  Co-operative  associations  were 
formed,  too,  on  Danish  models,  not  only  to  work 
creameries,  but  also  for  other  purposes,  such  as  the 
purchase  of  artificial  manure  ;  and  a  new  law  has  been 
passed  layiug  down  general  regulations  for  them, 
requiring  a  written  agreement  among  the  partners, 
and  so  on.  Only  associations  which  grant  loans  need 
government  sanction.  Such  societies  and  other  forms 
of  co-operation,  with  judicious  assistance  from  the 
government,  contribute  considerably  to  a  country's 
progress. 

Up  to  the  present  time  the  dwellers  in  the  im- 
mense Finnish  Lapmark,  the  Finns  themselves  as 
well  as  the  few  Lapps,  have  lived  almost  exclusively 
on  their  reindeer  and  the  proceeds  of  their  fishing. 
Now,  on  the  representations  of  the  Diet,  a  committee 
has  been  formed  to  examine  into  their  situation  and  to 


72  FINLAND 

propose  measures  for  their  improvement.  Experience 
proves,  as  the  Diet  points  out,  that  barley  and  rye 
ripen  high  up  in  the  northern  country,  and  roots  grow- 
in  the  farthest  north,  while  prairie  land  is  certainly 
plentiful ;  but  nobody  has  ever  thoroughly  gone  into 
the  matter  or  considered  the  possibilities  of  these  vast 
regions. 

Several  State  funds  have  been  formed  for  lending 
money  to  establish  dairies,  and  to  cultivate  peat- 
bogs and  other  unreclaimed  land.  Thus  in  1 8  5  i 
such  a  fund  was  formed,  and  in  1885  another 
of  2  million  marks  was  voted  to  be  lent  without 
interest  to  parish  authorities,  and  by  these  re-lent  in 
small  amounts  to  private  persons  at  the  low  interest  of 
3  per  cent.  At  the  same  time  more  money  was  granted 
to  be  lent  for  the  reclamation  of  moors  and  peat-bogs. 
The  first  fund  was  exhausted  very  soon,  300  parishes 
asking  for  loans,  and  it  was  decided  to  use  three- 
quarters  of  the  second  fund  in  a  similar  fashion,  lend- 
ing it  to  the  Communes  at  3  per  cent.  By  the  end  of 
1898  rather  more  than  3  millions  had  been  lent  to 
the  parishes ;  and  these  had  themselves  formed  funds 
out  of  the  interest  received  amounting  to  more  than 
750,000  marks,  which  they  are  re-lending.  All  this, 
however,  is  not  sufficient.  The  methods  savour  too 
much  of  officialdom,  and  central  control  is  difficult 
even  when  the  loans  are  arranged  through  the  com- 
munal authorities.  In  fact  this  low  interest  makes  the 
loan  an  act  of  charity.  Up  to  the  present  time,  how- 
ever, most  of  the  capital  used  for  agricultural  improve- 
ments has  been  obtained  by  selling  timber. 

It  has  now  been  decided  to  establish  a  new  central 
institution  for  lending  money  to  co-operative  associa- 
tions. The  government  will  grant  a  subvention  for 
the  cost  of  administration,  and  may  also  assist  in  other 


METHODS  OF  AGRICULTURE  73 

ways.  The  institution,  it  is  suggested,  will  require  a 
capital  of  300,000  marks,  which  may  later  be  in- 
creased to  one  million ;  the  shares  being  at  first  all 
taken  up  by  the  existing  co-operative  associations. 
It  will  lend  them  money  on  mortgage  and  personal 
security,  discount  their  bills  and  receive  their  money 
on  current  account,  or  on  deposit,  on  the  same  terms 
as  the  savings  banks.  These  measures  are  considered 
necessary  in  order  to  assist  the  small  farmers,  who 
find  the  ordinary  banks  difficult  of  access. 

We  must  admit  that  for  our  own  part  we  have 
more  confidence  in  the  development  of  the  ordinary 
credit  institutions,  the  banks  with  their  numerous 
branches,  the  savings  banks  and  mortgage  associations, 
which  would  become  still  more  useful  to  the  small 
landed  proprietor  if  they  would  continue  to  decrease 
their  limit  of  values  on  which  money  is  lent,  a  limit 
only  recently  lowered  from  8000  to  6000  marks. 


CHAPTER   V 

FORESTRY 

Finland  is  one  of  the  best  wooded  countries  in  Eurppe. 
The  woods  in  Finland  occupy  a  larger  space  than  all 
the  pasture  land  contained  in  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland ;  while  Finland  itself  is  as  big  as  the  whole 
United  Kingdom,  with  the  addition  of  Holland  and 
Belgium.  More  than  half  of  the  country — it  is  said 
as  much  as  64  per  cent. — is  covered  by  forests.  The 
true  forest  land,  on  dry  soil,  is  generally  reckoned  at 
46  per  cent,  of  the  surface  of  the  country,  or  four 
times  as  much  as  all  the  agricultural,  plough  and 
prairie  land  put  together.  But  in  addition  to  this, 
much  of  the  remaining  54  per  cent,  (consisting  of 
morass,  bogs,  lake,  and  rock)  is  partially  covered  with 
trees.  Some  people  reckon  that  the  marsh  land  in 
which  pines  are  found  is  30  per  cent,  of  the  total 
wooded  area.  The  whole  country  is  about  90  million 
acres  in  extent,  of  which  36^  million  acres  are  dry 
forest  land,  8|  million  acres  are  devoted  to  agriculture, 
and  45  millions  are  without  much  value,  though  par- 
tially covered  with  trees.  When  different  estimates 
are  made  of  this  wooded  surface  it  is  due  to  the 
different  meanings  given  to  the  word  forest.  At  any 
rate,  Finland  is  mainly  forest  land. 

It  is  to  these  woods  that  "  the  land  of  a  thousand 
lakes "  (or,  to  be  more  nearly  accurate,  of  ten  thou- 
sand lakes)  owes  its  great  beauty.  We  who  live  in 
more  elaborately  cultivated  lands  can  hardly  form  an 


FOKESTRY  75 

idea  of  the  attraction  of  this  forest  country  in  Finland 
and  Northern  Scandinavia,  of  this  beautiful  mixture 
of  pines  and  firs  of  different  ages,  mingled  with  birches 
and  other  deciduous  trees  ;  of  this  ground  covered  with 
rich  mosses,  junipers,  ferns,  liowers,  and  berries,  the 
whole  broken  by  lakes  and  rocks  of  fresh  natural 
beauty.  The  inhabitants  of  a  country  where  only 
regular  and  unil'orm  plantations  are  found  cannot  fail 
to  be  deeply  and  especially  impressed  by  such  a  scene, 
and  to  find  this  forest  land,  though  of  course  its 
beauty  varies  in  different  parts  of  this  large  country, 
very  grand  and  interesting. 

While  Finland  as  a  whole  is  not  agriculturally 
rich,  it  has  some  magnificent  natural  advantages ; 
among  others  its  capability  of  producing  the  trees 
which  are  most  commonly  used  to-day  for  building- 
material.  The  formations  found  on  granite  do  not,  as 
a  rule,  make  good  agricultural  soil,  but  they  are  an 
excellent  encasement  for  the  larcje  vertical  roots  of  the 
pine,  and  also  for  the  long  creeping  roots  stretched  out 
by  firs.  The  gravel  formed  by  glaciation,  particularly 
that  which  has  been  formed  by  brash  (the  Swedish 
"  krosstensgrus ")  and  also  by  rubble,  is  an  excellent 
soil  for  pines  and  firs.  The  pine  is  also  content  with 
sand,  marshes,  and  certain  mosses ;  while  the  fir  grows 
better  on  wet  ground.  The  rain  everywhere  is  suffi- 
cient in  quantity  for  the  growth  of  the  trees,  and  the 
most  valuable  of  them  are  found  very  far  northward. 
There,  however,  then-  growth  and  nmltiplication  is 
retarded,  and  even  their  shape  is  different.  The  fir, 
instead  of  assuming  the  shape  of  a  pyramid  with 
longer  branches  below,  grows  more  like  a  column; 
and  the  pine  does  not  attain  any  great  height.  In 
consequence,  probably,  of  the  hindrance  encountered 
by  its  strong  root  as  it  strikes  vertically  downwards, 


76  FINLAND 

the  tree  stops  growing,  and  forms  at  its  top  a  tuft 
of  branches  stretching  out  horizontally  like  those  of 
the  stone  pine  in  Southern  Europe.  But  even  thus 
the  tree  is  valuable. 

If  we  wish  to  locate  the  great  mass  of  the  forests 
on  the  map,  we  find  them,  as  is  natural,  on  the  higher 
ground.  We  cannot  call  Finland  a  mountainous 
country,  if  we  thereby  mean  to  suggest  mountains  of 
considerable  height.  At  all  events,  it  is  only  a  com- 
paratively small  part  of  the  country  in  the  north 
which  belonsfs  to  the  mountain  chain  of  the  Scandi- 
navian  Peninsula.  The  greater  part  of  the  coimtry 
has,  however,  an  elevation  of  looo  feet  or  more  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  and  it  is  here  that  we  find  the 
thickest  and  most  valuable  forests ;  in  the  north,  in 
the  west  where  the  great  plain  bordering  the  Gulf  of 
Bothnia  is  separated  by  some  hilly  country  from  the 
lakes  of  the  interior,  and  finally  on  the  heights  near 
the  Russian  frontier.  Not  much  is  heard  nowadays 
about  the  chains  of  hills  in  Finland,  of  which  the 
geographers  used  to  speak ;  there  are  no  continuous 
chains,  but  only  a  succession  of  separate  hills  called 
"  Maanselka "  or  "  the  back  of  the  country,"  which 
runs  across  the  north,  and  then  south-eastwards  until 
it  crosses  the  Russian  frontier.  The  "  Suomenselka," 
or  "  the  back  of  Finland,"  has  the  same  characteristics; 
this  line  runs  down  from  the  "  back  of  the  country," 
from  north-east  to  south-west,  till  at  Sideby  it  reaches 
the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  and  there  divides  Ostrobothnia 
from  Satakunta.  It  is  also  lines  cf  separate  hills, 
and  not  regular  chains  which  run  down  from  the 
Suomenselka  into  the  interior,  and  divide  the  great 
systems  of  lakes  there;  we  find  the  Satakunnanselka 
in  Satakunta,  the  Hameenselka  in  Tavastland  (or 
Hameenmaa,  as  this  district  is  called  in  Finnish),  the 


FORESTRY 


77 


Savonselka  in  Savolaks,  and  the  Karjalanselka  in 
Carelia.  A  line  of  downs,  the  "  Salpaussellka "  or 
"  Closing  Range,"  which  crosses  the  country  in  the 
south,  in  which  the  above-mentioned  spurs  of  hills 
terminate,  and  which  separates  the  great  interior 
basin  from  the  low  lands  of  the  coast,  are  similarly  not 
a  chain  of  mountains,  but  a  curious  terminal  moraine, 
consisting  of  sand  and  gravel,  and  with  another  similar 
spur  at  a  distance  of  a  few  miles.  The  same  is  the 
case  with  the  Lohjanselka,  which  runs  down  from  this 
range  to  the  south-western  coast  at  Hango.  These 
and  other  ranges  of  hills  are  natural  forest  soil.  The 
largest  and  densest  groups  of  forests  are,  as  we  have 
said,  situated  in  the  north,  in  the  west  inside  the 
great  plain,  and  on  the  eastern  frontier ;  at  which 
three  points,  too,  the  great  Crown  forests  are  to  be 
found.  But,  in  fact,  the  whole  comparatively  high 
and  thinly-populated  country  which  divides  the  Ostro- 
bothnian  rivers  from  those  running  south  into  the 
Gulf  of  Finland,  has  been,  and  still  is,  the  home  of  the 
woods.  The  forests  which  crown  the  hills  run  down 
to  the  coasts  in  the  south-west ;  and  the  islands  them- 
selves are  well-wooded,  though  rocky,  and  contain 
trees  of  considerable  value. 

The  common  pine  {Fimts  syhestris),  the  Norwegian 
pine  or  red  wood,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is  com- 
mercially the  most  valuable  of  all  northern  trees. 
Its  wood,  being  resinous,  is  strong  and  durable,  and  it 
is  also  elastic  and  comparatively  free  from  knots.  The 
tree  is  called  "  fura "  when  the  stems  have  formed 
into  the  beautiful  straight  column  which  is  the  usual 
result  of  dense  growth,  the  branches  then  falling  off 
cleanly  without  leaving  knots.  Otherwise  "  tall  "  is 
the  common  Swedish  name.  The  pine  grows  far  up 
in   the  Lapmark,  but  in   the  farthest   north   it   looks 


78  FINLAND 

more  like  a  bush  than  a  tree.  It  grows  but  slowly 
there.  In  Southern  Finland,  in  moderately  rich  soil, 
a  pine  takes  eighty-two  years  to  attain  a  diameter  of 
20  centimetres  at  a  height  of  7  metres,  while  in 
Central  Finland  it  takes  105  years,  and  in  the  north 
below  the  Lapmark  131  years  to  reach  the  same  size. 
A  larger  trunk  of  25  centimetres,  such  as  would  be 
required  at  the  saw-mills,  takes  respectively  iii,  142, 
and  175  years  in  the  above-mentioned  three  parts  of 
the  country.  The  height  of  a  tree  100  years  old  is  in 
these  three  regions  25,  21,  and  1 8  metres ;  or,  in  the 
best  possible  soil,  33,  27,  and  19  metres;  or,  in  the 
least  fertile  soil,  18,  15,  and  9  metres.  The  differ- 
ence is  thus  very  great.  While  it  pays  in  the  south 
to  let  a  forest  grow  for  1 20  years,  it  may  be  profitable 
farther  north  to  let  it  remain  for  150  or  200  years; 
and  in  the  farthest  north  no  time  seems  to  be  suffi- 
cient for  the  regrowth  of  a  forest  which  has  once  been 
cut  down.  The  most  valuable  boards  and  planks,  of 
from  9  to  1 2  English  inches,  require  a  tree-trunk 
measuring  at  least  10  English  inches  or  27  centi- 
metres at  the  thin  end.  Wood  of  this  measurement 
is  worth  two  or  three  times  more  per  cubic  foot  than 
when  it  is  cut  down  in  trunks  of  18  centimetres.  In 
the  far  north,  on  the  other  side  of  the  watershed,  in 
the  Lake  Enare  district  of  the  Lapmark,  it  has  taken 
as  much  as  282  to  392  years  before  a  pine  has  ob- 
tained a  thickness  of  25  centimetres  at  a  height 
respectively  of  4  and  6  metres. 

The  fir  {Ahies  excelsa)  or  Norwegian  spruce  is  gener- 
ally less  valuable  than  the  pine ;  in  its  ordinary 
dimensions  it  is  worth  on  the  average  20  per  cent, 
less  than  the  latter.  But  the  demand  for  it  has 
increased  considerably ;  in  particular,  the  extensive 
modern  requirement  of  white  wood  for  paper-pulp  and 


FORESTRY  79 

pasteboard  can  be  met  by  such  trees  of  rather  smaller 
dimensions.  The  fir  wants  a  better  soil  than  the  pine, 
and  especially  it  wants  more  moisture ;  but  it  increases 
more  rapidly  both  in  quantity  and  in  value.  In  100 
years,  in  forests  of  ordinary  density,  a  fir-tree  reaches 
an  average  height  of  25^  metres,  or  30  metres  in  160 
years.  It  can  rarely  grow  as  old  as  the  pine  without 
being  spoilt,  the  limit  in  Finland  being  from  130  to 
160  years.  In  Russia  it  grows  a  little  farther  north 
than  the  pine ;  but  in  Finland  not  quite  so  far  north ; 
reaching  hardly  to  69  i°  of  latitude,  while  the  pine  is 
not  far  from  70°.  The  fir,  too,  requires  a  longer  time 
to  develop  in  the  north;  a  trunk  of  20  centimetres  at 
a  height  of  7  metres  requires  162  years  between  the 
65°  and  Gy"  of  latitude;  while  in  Central  Finland  it 
requires  123  years,  and  in  Southern  Finland  96  years. 
A  trunk  of  25  centimetres  requires  respectively  in 
these  districts  202,  153,  and  115  years.  The  finest 
growth  and  the  best  result  is  obtained  by  a  mixture 
of  the  pine,  which  requires  light,  and  the  fir,  which  is 
able  to  grow  in  the  shade.  It  is  in  the  north,  in  woods 
thus  arranged,  that  we  most  often  meet  with  the  long 
healthy  pines,  as  straight  as  the  most  perfect  columns, 
such  as  are  rarel})-  seen  in  Central  Europe.  The  fir 
helps  to  keep  the  soil  moist.  It  is  here  too  that  good 
layers  of  humus  are  found,  and  that  the  richest 
growths  of  bacteria,  mosses,  and  animalculaj  which 
form  good  soil  are  developed.  It  is  a  mistake  not  to 
assist,  when  possible,  the  formation  and  preservation 
of  this  useful  admixture. 

Among  deciduous  trees  the  birch  predominates.  In 
Finland  as  elsewhere,  in  the  United  States  for  instance, 
the  cutting  down  of  the  forests  is  causing  birch  trees 
and  other  less  valuable  hardwood  trees  to  replace  the 
resinous    trees.      The    latter,    and    especially   the    fir, 


8o  FINLAND 

return  when  the  forest  is  let  alone.  The  birch  is 
found  nearly  everywhere  in  Finland,  even  quite  far 
north ;  farthest  north  of  all  being  found  the  little 
dwarf  birch  (Betula  nana),  which  grows  higher  up  in 
the  mountains  than  the  pine  or  fir.  The  peculiarly 
beautiful  weeping  birch  predominates  in  a  large  part 
of  the  islands,  and  is  also  common  in  the  southern 
and  central  parts  of  the  country.  In  addition  to  being 
employed  as  firewood,  birch  is  used  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  bobbins,  now  rather  an  important  industry. 

Of  the  two  varieties  of  alder,  the  common  red  alder 
{Alnus  glutinosa)  grows  largely  among  the  swanjps  of 
the  south,  and  far  up  along  the  rivers  and  coast.  The 
hoary  and  wavy-leafed  species  {Alnus  incaiia)  pre- 
dominates in  the  north,  chiefly  in  central  and  eastern 
Finland,  where,  on  burnt-over  lands,  it  is  sometimes 
more  prevalent  than  the  birch. 

The  aspen  is  found  almost  as  far  north  as  the  birch, 
but  rarely  in  any  dense  growth.  Latterly  its  wood  has 
been  in  especial  request  in  match  factories. 

Among  other  trees  the  mountain  ash,  which  in  olden 
times  was  regarded  even  more  than  the  birch  as  a  holy 
tree,  extends  far  up  north.  Among  several  service 
trees,  one  is  known  as  the  Lapland  variety.  Two  other 
varieties,  the  bastard  service  and  the  Scandia  service, 
are  found  only  in  the  south-west,  especially  in  Aland. 
Still  farther  north,  we  find  a  number  of  willows,  includ- 
ing the  cracking  willow,  and  about  twenty  varieties  of 
osiers.  The  most  northerly  limit  of  linden  (Tilia  ulmi- 
folia)  and  hazel  is  comparatively  far  down,  and  for  elm, 
Norwegian  maple  {Acer  platanoides) ,  and  ash,  it  is  even 
farther  down  on  the  southern  coast.  We  find  oak  on 
the  southern  coast  only,  e.g.,  on  Runsala  island  near 
Abo,  and  farther  down  on  the  south-western  coast,  and 
in  the  province  of  Viborg.     Interesting  experiments  are 


FORESTRY  8i 

being  made  in  sowing  and  planting  the  larch,  which 
grows  very  far  north,  and  of  which  an  interesting 
plantation  was  formed  in  the  first  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century  by  the  Russian  Marine  Adminis- 
tration in  the  parish  of  Nykyrka,  in  the  south-eastern 
corner  of  Finland.  Experiments  are  now  being  made 
with  the  Weymouth  pine,  silver  fir,  white  fir,  "  Balm 
of  Gilead  "  or  balsam  fir,  Finus  strobus,  Finns  cemhra, 
and  the  Douglas  spruce  from  the  North  American 
Pacific  coast.  Yet  other  trees  and  bushes  are  found 
in  the  north,  the  Guelder  Rose  or  viburnum,  one  of 
the  buckthorns,  the  brackwood  and  others.  In  the 
south-western  corner  of  the  country,  especially  on  the 
islands,  a  richer  and  more  varied  vegetation  is  found, 
buckthorns  and  blackthorns,  hawthorns,  lime-trees, 
bird-cherries,  crab-apples,  yews,  honeysuckle,  a  few 
sloes,  and  a  number  of  roses.  In  the  gardens  we  meet 
several  kinds  of  poplars  (including  the  abele  tree  or 
white  poplar  and  the  balsam  poplar),  horse-chestnuts, 
lilacs,  spiraeas,  snowberries,  barberries,  apples,  cherries 
and  smaller  fruits,  anjong  which  the  black  currant, 
gooseberry  and  raspberry  extend  comparatively  far 
northwards.  Some  of  the  most  perfect  rose  gardens 
are  found  in  this  northern  coimtry. 

In  the  woods  of  Finland  and  on  its  moors  and 
marshes,  as  well  as  in  Sweden  and  Norway,  we  find 
a  large  abundance  of  berries — strawberries,  raspberries, 
bilberries,  whortleberries,  cranberries,  and  the  excellent 
cloudberries  {Rubus  chamcemonis),  and  roebuck  berries 
(liiibiis  arcticus).  The  peasants  and  cottiers  frequently 
used  to  pay,  and  even  still  pay,  part  of  their  rent  in 
berries.  Fruit  in  the  south  is  sweeter,  in  the  north 
more  aromatic.  In  the  United  States,  all  these  berries, 
especially  the  large  variety  of  cranberries,  bring  in 
millions  of  dollars   to   those  who    cultivate   and  pick 

F 


82  FINLAND 

th'em.  In  New  Jersey  and  Wisconsin  the  cranberry 
marshes  are  sometimes  cultivated ;  that  is  to  say,  pro- 
vided with  a  layer  of  sand,  and  kept  under  water  during 
certain  periods  to  protect  them  against  frost.  Con- 
sidering the  whole  fruit  trade,  and  especially  the  tinned 
fruit  trade  of  the  United  States,  we  cannot  but  wonder 
whether  this  great  abundance  of  berries  in  Northern 
Europe  might  not  be  dealt  with  in  the  same  manner, 
and  not  as  now  be  left  to  bring  in  merely  a  few  thou- 
sand marks.  To  make  such  an  industry  succeed  it  would 
probably  be  necessary  to  remove  the  duty  on  tin  and 
tin-dipped  iron  for  boxes,  and  to  allow  the  free  import 
of  sugar,  or  at  least  to  pay  the  duty  back  in  the  case 
of  exports. 

Nothing  in  Finland  is  more  noticeable  to  the 
foreigner  than  the  waste  of  timber.  Not  long  ago  in 
Northern  Tavastland,  and  still  later  in  Carelia,  it  was 
thought  good  policy  to  burn  the  old  pine  woods  simply 
in  order  that  they  might  be  changed  to  pasture  land 
or  into  plantations  of  deciduous  trees,  which  later 
could  be  used  in  the  so-called  "svedja"  agriculture. 
Rather  than  lose  the  skin  of  a  squirrel  a  hunter  would 
without  hesitation  fell  the  finest  tree.  Even  to-day 
an  incredible  waste  goes  on,  trees  being  felled  for  the 
construction  of  fences  which,  as  in  Sweden,  are  formed 
of  slanting  posts ;  and  yet  more  are  felled  for  firewood. 
The  great  mass  of  wood  in  Finland  is  used  at  home, 
only  a  comparatively  small  part  being  exported.  Out 
of  19  million  cubic  metres,  the  minimum  yearly  crop, 
more  than  1 3  million  metres  is  so  consumed,  besides 
what  the  cottagers  use  in  the  government  forests, 
and  in  addition  to  more  than  2  million  cubic  metres 
used  in  factories,  and  on  railways  and  steamers.  Some 
improvement  is,  however,  visible ;  in  especial  the  idea 
of  a  necessary  consumption  has  been  changed,  and  it 


FORESTRY  S3 

is  characteristic  to  notice  how  calculations  vary  in 
different  places.  In  the  east,  in  the  provinces  of  Kuopio 
and  St.  Michel,  the  necessary  quantity  per  head  is 
reckoned  at  ten  cubic  metres,  while  in  the  south-west  it 
is  only  six.  On  a  peasant  farm  in  the  comparatively 
advanced  province  of  Nyland,  it  is  still  reckoned  neces- 
sary to  use  123  cubic  metres  per  annum,  while  for  a 
town  house  14  is  considered  sufficient.  In  the  interior 
of  Vasa  the  amount  is  190  cubic  metres,  and  in  the 
coast  district  only  64  per  farm.  Notwithstanding 
many  improvements,  such  as  better-made  ovens  and 
so  on,  waste  is  still  the  rule,  and  we  find  the  same 
thing  in  all  countries  where  timber  is  plentiful  and  its 
value  small. 

The  old  agricultural  method  of  which  we  have 
spoken,  which  obtains  a  few  harvests  and  some  pasture 
afterwards  by  burning  over  the  forest  lands,  was  cer- 
tainly false  economy.  In  a  large  part  of  the  country 
this  method  has  entirely  changed  the  character  of 
the  forests.  This  is  the  case  in  the  old  district  of 
Savolaks,  that  is  in  the  existing  provinces  of  St, 
Michel  and  Southern  Kuopio,  and  also  in  other  parts 
of  the  country.  Instead  of  dense  pine  woods  we  find 
woods  of  birch  with  a  few  pines,  and  more  aspen  trees, 
and  the  wavy-leaved  alder.  It  is  not  till  the  birch- 
trees  are  thirty  or  forty  years  old  that  the  woods  begin 
to  grow  thin,  and  are  open  enough  to  leave  room  for  a 
n-ew  growth  of  fir  and  pine,  especially  fir.  The  aspen 
leaves  sufficient  room  when  it  is  twenty  years  old,  the 
alder  not  till  it  is  eighty  or  a  hundred.  Usually,  how- 
ever, where  this  burning  has  prevailed,  the  deciduous 
forest  has  not  been  allowed  to  attain  such  an  age.  It 
may  be  right  for  the  Legislature  to  take  up  the  matter 
and  try  to  aboUsh  this  old  and  evil  practice,  as  it  has 
done  by  the  law  of   1886,  already  referred  to,  which 


84  FINLAND 

forbade  all  burning  on  rock,  on  very  stony  land,  and 
on  sands  covered  by  pine  or  heath.  We  doubt,  how- 
ever, the  wisdom  of  the  clause  which  forbids  such 
cultivators  to  take  more  than  two  harvests  of  grain, 
and  lays  down  a  rule  that  deciduous  woods  must  not 
be  burnt  again  for  thirty  years,  or  resinous  woods  for 
forty  years.  We  think  still  worse  of  the  proposal  of 
the  late  committee,  that  resinous  forest  should  not  be 
burned  over  at  all  for  the  future,  and  of  the  clause  in 
the  present  forest  law  which  forbids  even  the  waste 
left  after  timber-felling  to  be  burnt  over  for  the  pur- 
pose of  sowing  grain,  unless  the  land  is  immediately 
afterwards  used  for  pasture  or  replanted  as  forest.  We 
can  better  understand  the  committee's  desire  to  forbid 
the  burmng  of  all  heath  land.  But  the  burning  of 
waste  and  dry  mosses  left  after  the  old  trees  have  been 
felled  may  be  most  desirable.  On  dry  soU  and  dry 
moss  it  may  be  difficult  to  make  the  seeds  of  the  trees 
sprout,  or  to  preserve  the  yoimg  growth,  while  on  the 
other  hand  it  may  be  very  profitable  to  take  several 
rich  harvests  without  burning  the  soil  itself,  and  after- 
wards to  obtain  some  good  pasturage.  In  a  country 
like  Finland  there  is  always  an  abundance  of  miserable 
old  pasture  land,  often  covered  with  ling  and  heath, 
where  good  forests  may  be  produced  at  very  small 
cost.  The  soil  is  firm  and  moist  enough  to  allow  the 
seed  to  sprout  and  the  young  growth  to  thrive.  The 
old  svedja  is  wasteful  and  antiquated,  but  burning 
may,  on  the  other  hand,  be  of  excellent  service  in 
forestry,  and  it  ought  not  to  be  forbidden.  It  is 
worthy  of  note  that  the  restrictions  are  not  always 
regarded,  an  inevitable  result  of  legislative  interference 
with  free  popular  transaction  of  business. 

The  manufacture  of  tar,  in  the  old  fashion,  is  no 
less  antiquated  and  wasteful  than  the  svedja.     Enor- 


FORESTRY  85 

mous  tracts  of  pine-wood,  especially  in  Ule^borg  and  in 
the  interior  of  Vasa,  have  been  destroyed  or  changed 
into  fir-woods  because  the  pines  have  been  cut  down 
when  they  are  from  forty  to  eighty  years  old  and  used 
for  burning  tar.  This  has  been  an  important  business 
in  Ostrobothnia  since  the  sixteenth  century.  For 
several  successive  years  the  trees  are  stripped  of  their 
bark,  except  one  small  strip  just  big  enough  to  keep  the 
tree  alive,  which  is  left  on  the  north  side.  The  last 
year  this  too  is  taken  off,  and  the  trees  are  felled,  cut 
up,  and  then  charred  in  a  pit  or  kiln  in  which  the  tar 
is  collected.  Better  kilns  are  now  used,  though  not 
so  widely  as  in  Russia,  and  to  some  extent  the  tar- 
burners  make  use  of  less  extravagant  material,  such  as 
stumps,  roots,  waste  from  the  saw-mills,  and  young 
trees  cut  down  when  the  forest-growth  is  thinned ; 
the  latter  being  indeed  material  for  which  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  any  other  use.  Most  of  the  tar, 
however,  is  produced  by  the  old  wasteful  methods ; 
tar-burning  to-day  still  consumes  some  300,000  cubic 
metres  of  wood  and  not  less  than  700,000  stems  per 
annum ;  and  it  is  still  the  main  business  of  the  people 
on  the  other  side  of  Lake  Ule^.  It  is,  however,  no 
matter  for  regret  that  the  export  of  tar  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  particularly  in  its  last  decade,  should 
have  diminished  considerably.  There  is  less  use  for 
it  now  that  wooden  ships  have  been  replaced  by  ships 
of  iron  and  steel.  When  the  production  of  tar  was  at 
its  height  in  1863,  after  having  stopped  almost  entirely 
during  the  Crimean  War,  the  amount  was  not  far 
short  of  300,000  hectolitres  per  annum;  in  1875  it 
was  a  little  over  200,000  hectolitres,  and  its  value  was 
3  million  marks ;  now  the  production  is  not  much 
more  than  100,000  hectolitres.  Besides  the  tar  itself 
this  industry  results  in  some  minor  products,  such  as 


86  FINLAND 

pitch,  lampblack,  and  charcoal,  and,  with  modern  appli- 
ances, yet  others  such  as  methylated  spirit,  wood-oil,  and 
acid-chalk.  The  production  of  potash  is  less  than  for- 
merly.    Doubtless  considerable  improvement  is  possible. 

The  chief  products  of  the  forest  now  go  through 
the  saw-mills.  In  1889  about  373,000  cubic  metres 
of  planks  were  exported,  the  value  being  about  16 
million  marks;  also  850,000  cubic  metres  of  battens 
of  the  value  of  32  million  marks;  one  million  cubic 
metres  of  boards  of  the  value  of  3 1  million  marks ; 
a  little  over  300,000  cubic  metres  of  staves,  bottoms, 
and  ends  of  planks  ;  boards  of  the  value  of  3  million 
marks;  and  a  smaller  amount  of  sawn  spars.  The 
total  value  was  about  82  million  marks. 

The  exportation  of  hewn  spars  or  beams  in  1899 
was  valued  at  2,134,000  marks;  of  laths  and  lath- 
work  at  1,380,000  marks;  of  round  spars,  bowsprits, 
yards,  masts,  &c.,  at  1,863,000  marks;  the  whole  of 
this  class  of  ware  representing  about  300,000  cubic 
metres  and  5  million  marks.  Pit-props  were  exported 
to  the  value  of  about  3  millions  ;  and  wood  for  pulp- 
mills  and  paper  factories  to  the  value  of  about  2^ 
millions:  making  altogether  about  750,000  cubic 
metres  and  5^  million  marks.  About  500,000  cubic 
metres  of  firewood,  both  fir  and  pine,  worth  about  if 
million  marks,  was  exported ;  and  firewood  of  other 
trees  in  rather  less  quantity  but  of  about  the  same 
value.  Squares  of  birch  for  bobbins  were  exported  to 
the  value  of  250,000  marks,  and  bobbins  themselves 
to  the  value  of  2  millions.  Besides  these  a  consider- 
able list  might  be  compiled  of  other  more  or  less  im- 
portant articles,  such  as  poles,  rafters,  beams,  knees  of 
fir  for  keels,  other  items  for  shipbuilding,  and  various 
other  manufactured  articles.  The  value  of  the  whole 
bulk  of  wood  hewn  or  manufactured  in  the  saw-mills 


FORESTRY  87 

amounted  in  1899  to  the  large  sum  of  loi  million 
marks.  To  this  may  be  added  the  export  of  pulp, 
pasteboard,  and  paper,  representing  about  300,000 
cubic  metres  of  wood  and  a  value  of  1 8  milhon  marks. 
To  this  purpose  a  great  mass  of  the  wood  of  the  United 
States  and  other  countries  is  nowadays  applied,  in 
consequence  of  the  rapidly  increasing  production  of 
newspapers.  No  industry  is  better  suited  to  Finland, 
Sweden,  and  Norway,  with  their  great  fir-woods  and 
excellent  water-power.  But  the  production  of  wood 
so  used  is  very  little  compared  with  the  domestic  con- 
sumption, and  it  is  a  small  part  of  the  wood  exported. 
The  whole  of  the  exported  wood  (about  4  million 
cubic  metres)  does  not  amount  to  much  more  than 
one-fourth  of  the  wood  consumed  in  the  country,  which 
is  about  I  5  million  cubic  metres. 

The  great  export  of  timber  is  a  comparatively  new 
business.  Formerly  it  was  sawn  by  hand,  or  by  water- 
power  if  it  could  be  found,  and  the  manufactured  pro- 
duct was  conveyed  to  the  ports,  usually  by  cart  and 
horse,  at  great  cost.  Not  until  after  the  Crimean  War 
was  steam  power  allowed  at  the  saw-mills,  and  it  then 
became  the  practice  to  build  mills  at  the  mouths  of  big 
rivers,  so  that  great  quantities  of  wood  might  be  floated 
there  and  work  be  done  on  a  large  scale.  In  1 8  6 1 
the  regulation  was  rescinded  which,  partly  for  the  pre- 
servation of  the  forests,  had  restricted  the  territory 
from  which  each  saw-mill  might  buy  wood,  and  also 
the  number  of  trunks  and  logs  which  it  might  saw 
each  year.  In  1846  the  total  value  of  exported 
lumber  was  2,200,000  marks,  which  represented  a 
quarter  of  the  total  exports  of  that  time  ;  and  three- 
quarters  of  this  came  from  the  saw-mills.  In  1856 
this  total  was  increased  to  5|  millions,  representing 
one-third   of   the   total   export ;   and   of  this   amount 


88  FINLAND 

i7-20tlis  -was  manufactured  in   the   saw-mills.      The 
greatest  progress  took  place  after  the  Franco-German 
War,  when  the  large  demand  for  wood  in  these  specu- 
lative times — the  "  milliard  period  " — led  foreigners  to 
place  a  considerable  amount  of  capital  in  the  lumber 
business,  and  when  large  saw-mills  were  built  on  the 
rivers.      In  the  five  years  from    1875-79  the  export 
increased  till  it  was  one-half  larger  than  in  the  pre- 
ceding five   years.     In    1877   it  was   three   times  as 
large  as  in   1870.     It  decreased  during  the  Russo- 
Turkish  War,  but  in   1880  it  was  larger  than  it  had 
ever  been.     These  periods  do  not  exactly  follow  the 
economic  movements  of  the  world.     With  wood,  as 
with   iron,   a    demand   continues   after   the   period   of 
prosperity,  on  account  of  buildings  begun  and  con- 
tracts made  diuing  this  period,  although  the  periodic 
reaction  in  the  level  of  prices  has  begun.     It  takes 
also  a  long  time,  sometimes  as  much  as  four  years,  for 
the  felled  trees  to  come,  first,  out  of  the  forests  into 
the  interior  lakes  and  rivers,  then  to  the  saw-mills, 
and  finally  thence  into  foreign  countries.     The  large 
recent  increase  in  the  value  of  this  export,  an  increase 
from    50,000.000    marks    in    the  prosperous  year  of 
1876  and  40,500,000  as  late  as  1892  to  101,000,000 
in  1899,  is  largely  the  result  of  the  general  econo- 
mic   development  of    the  world,   and   of  the  greater 
demand  which  has  increased  the  price.     But  it  has 
only  been  made  possible  by  the  Finlanders'  ability  to 
produce.     It  is  an  advance  which  will  continue,  even 
though  a  reaction  may  take  place  at  certain  periods. 
In  quantity,  timber  from  the  saw-mills  has  increased 
from  less  than  half  a  million  cubic  metres  per  annum 
in  1865—69,  to  more  than  a  million  per  annum  in  the 
period  1875-84,   if  million  in  1894,  and  more  than 
2 1  millions  in  1 899-1 900. 


FORESTRY  89 

Private  owners,  it  must  be  confessed,  are  in  the 
habit  of  destroying  their  woods.  In  Finland  private 
landlords  own  about  24  million  acres  of  dry  forest  soil, 
and  4I  million  acres  of  wooded  marsh  land.  These 
figures  represent  respectively  44  per  cent,  and  8  per 
cent,  of  the  whole  area  of  land  lield  as  private  pro- 
perty;  the  rest  being  5  per  cent,  of  plough  land,  io| 
per  cent,  of  pasturage,  and  32  per  cent,  of  barren 
marshes  and  rocks.  In  all  countries  the  great  vir- 
gmal  forests  are  cut  down  as  soon  as  they  become 
valuable ;  in  the  United  States,  for  instance,  enormous 
natural  forests  have  very  quickly  disappeared.  In  the 
northern  portion  of  the  east,  especially  in  the  State 
of  Maine,  most  of  which  is  forest  land,  there  is  now 
hardly  any  wood  except  the  second  growth.  Also  in 
the  other  largo  forest-tracts  of  Weymouth  pine,  at  the 
western  end  of  the  Great  Lakes,  the  vh'ginal  forest  is 
nearly  all  cut  down.  The  same  will  soon  be  the  case 
with  the  Douglas  spruce  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
Pacific  coast,  as  well  as  the  pitch-pine  and  other  valu- 
able woods  in  the  forest  area  of  the  Southern  States, 
this  latter  bemg  the  largest  area  of  untouched  forest 
in  existence  in  the  United  States.  Only  in  Canada 
will  a  large  area  of  woods  remain  for  some  time  longer 
untouched.  In  the  forests  of  the  Scandinavian  Pen- 
insula, too,  especially  in  Norway,  the  trees  have  now 
been  thinned  out  in  the  most  serious  manner ;  and 
even  on  the  coast  of  Northern  Sw^eden  the  large 
trunks  have  been  taken  away.  In  Finland  it  is  not 
only  the  very  big  trunks  which  are  used  dhectly 
transport  becomes  possible ;  the  small  ones  too  are 
utilised.  In  1887  less  than  thirty  trunks  were  re- 
quired to  produce  manufactured  wood  which  should 
fill  a  standard  of  St.  Petersburg  measure;  but  in  1897 
it  took  fortv-two  trunks.     In  the  interior  all  stems  of 


90  FINLAND 

20  centimetres  in  diameter  at  a  height  of  5  metres  are 
cut  down  ;  on  the  coast  and  near  the  railway  i  5  centi- 
metres is  considered  a  proper  diameter.  Buyers  soon 
get  used  to  smaller  dimensions,  and  will  now,  for  in- 
stance, accept  a  plank  3  inches  by  2|  mches,  English 
measure,  because  two  such  planks  can  be  used  where 
formerly  one  of  6  inches  by  2|  inches  was  necessary. 
The  export  of  pit-props  or  mining  lumber  and  wood 
for  the  manufacture  of  pulp  and  pasteboard,  is  new ; 
in  1885  such  exports  only  reached  8600  cubic  metres 
in  quantity  and  a  value  of  less  than  200,000  marks, 
while  in  1900  the  quantity  was  about  a  million  cubic 
metres  and  the  value  6  million  marks. 

The  peasant  proprietors  especially  are  said  to  sell 
their  timber  as  soon  as  possible.  And  why  should 
they  not  do  so  when  it  is  more  profitable  for  them  to 
have  the  money  ?  Without  the  money  obtained  in 
recent  years  for  timber  the  remarkable  agricultural 
progress  which  we  have  described  could  not  have 
taken  place.  All  men  have  not  employed  their 
money  equally  well ;  but  this  is  the  case  with  the 
owners  of  most  other  capital  and  income.  Com- 
plaints are  made,  particularly  of  the  poorer  peasants, 
that  they  are  too  willing  to  sell  their  woods  at  a  low 
price  ;  but  for  them  capital  is  of  even  more  import- 
ance. The  woods  are  best  managed  in  those  districts 
where  agriculture  is  most  advanced  and  where  wood 
has  most  value,  such  as  Nyland,  Finland  proper,  even 
Aland,  and  part  of  Tavastland,  which  is  still  compara- 
tively rich  in  timber.  In  truth,  the  best  forests  are 
found  where  the  widely  scattered  woods  and  old  trees, 
which  latter  are  mostly  damaged,  have  been  once  or 
twice  cleared  away.  From  the  point  of  view  of  then- 
own  interest  the  peasants  in  Finland  and  the  Scandi- 
navian  Peninsula   show   no  little   intelligence  in   the 


FORESTRY  91 

management  of  their  timber.  Often  enough  they 
understand  better  than  their  superiors  how  to  make 
a  profit  out  of  it. 

The  committee  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  state 
of  the  forests  has  several  times  recommended  that  a 
small  duty  should  be  imposed  on  exports  of  small  sizes 
of  wood  such  as  mining  timber  or  of  wood  for  the 
manufacture  of  pulp  and  pasteboard.  It  was  proposed 
that  10  per  cent,  should  be  paid,  which  for  wood  of 
this  kind  at  its  ordinary  value  would  work  out  at 
about  1 5  penni  per  cubic  metre.  The  large  lumber 
which  has  not  passed  through  the  saw-mills  pays  now 
45  penni  per  cubic  metre,  or  about  5  per  cent,  on  the 
value  of  the  unfelled  timber,  and  the  saw-mills  pay 
a  duty  which  is  estimated  to  amount  to  the  same. 
Instead  of  imposing  such  a  new  duty,  which  the  late 
Forest  Committee  has  also  recommended,  it  would  be 
better  to  abolish  all  duties  on  the  exports,  including 
that  on  manufactured  goods  from  the  saw-mills.  The 
more  money  made  by  timber  the  greater  is  the 
encouragement  to  preserve  and  cultivate  the  forests. 
This  is  good  logic,  and  any  duty  which  decreases  value 
is  evidently  wrong. 

The  enclosure  and  distribution  of  what  were  once 
the  common  forests,  first  among  parishes  and  villages, 
and  then  among  single  proprietors,  has  contributed, 
as  a  rule,  to  increase  the  interest  of  these  persons  in 
their  forests.  It  is  only  natural  that,  when  enclosure 
has  been  decided  upon,  the  peasants  should  sometimes 
indulge  in  a  little  license  before  the  enclosure  takes 
place.  The  law  of  1886  tried  to  prohibit  sales  during 
the  process  of  enclosure,  and  even  authorised  the 
provincial  governors  to  regulate  the  use  of  the  forest 
by  the  peasants  during  such  periods.  Sometimes  the 
allotment  of  a  distant  piece  of  land  has  been  a  reason 


92  FINLAND 

for  the  peasants  to  sell  their  forest  property  as  rapidly 
as  possible. 

A  large  extent  of  woods,  about  100,000  acres  in 
all,  is  owned  by  some  towns,  especially  in  the  north 
and  east.  Recently  it  has  been  thought  advisable 
to  preserve  forests  held  in  common  ownership  by 
parishes,  villages,  or  other  societies.  Such  common 
woods  may  be  retained  by  the  village  at  the  time  of 
the  enclosure,  or  the  government  may  grant  this 
forest  territory  to  the  peasants  for  a  reasonable  rent 
or  price.  The  provincial  Governor  has  to  approve  the 
plan  for  the  utilisation  of  the  forests,  after  hearing 
what  the  department  of  the  State  forests  has  to  say. 
The  late  committee  recommended  that  when  a  deci- 
sion had  to  be  taken  about  preserving  half  of  the 
forest  for  the  village,  unanimity  should  not  be  essential, 
but  only  a  two-thirds  majority  be  required.  The  fact 
is,  however,  that  the  peasants  are  not  greatly  con- 
cerned about  common  property ;  they  do  not  agree 
with  their  theory-loving  friends.  Up  to  the  present 
time  they  have  not  made  much  use  of  the  legislation 
on  the  subject. 

In  theory  it  may  be  right  to  prevent  the  abuse  of 
their  own  property  by  people  who  do  not  know  what 
is  good  for  them  ;  and  there  may  not,  therefore,  be  any 
abstract  objection  to  a  repetition  in  the  Forest  Law  of 
1886  of  the  old  Swedish  law  forbidding  peasants  or 
owners  to  destroy  their  forests,  and  compelling  them, 
if  they  do  not  use  the  soil  in  any  other  way,  to 
leave  some  trees  for  seed,  and  otherwise  attend  to 
the  regeneration  of  the  forest.  The  committee  which 
has  inquired  into  the  situation  of  the  private  forests 
recommends  that,  in  order  to  supervise  the  woods 
better,  men  proposed  by  the  parish  should  be  nomi- 
nated by  the  Governor  to  form  committees  of  super- 


FORESTRY  93 

vision  for  this  purpose.     We  doubt  whether  proprietors 
would  like  such  supervision  by  their  neighbours. 

It  is  a  matter  for  congratulation  that  the  Finnish 
legislators  have  not  adopted  the  clauses  of  certain 
new  Swedish  laws  passed  for  the  Island  of  Gotland 
and  the  north  coast  of  Sweden,  which  forbid  the 
exportation  of  wood  of  small  size.  The  best  forestry 
demands  the  thinning  as  well  as  the  cutting-down  of 
shut-in,  badly- developed  trees.  To  fell  the  trees  over 
an  entire  area  is  not  considered  good  policy;  but  we 
must  repeat  that  it  is  bad  economy  to  leave  badly- 
grown,  stunted  trees.  Yet  to  make  the  business  pay 
requires  good  management  in  the  felling,  transport, 
and  sale  of  the  trees,  and  this  is  often  best  obtained 
when  the  work  is  done  on  a  large  scale.  Frequently 
it  is  necessary  to  construct  roads,  lay  down  rails  and 
use  light  movable  tramways,  which  are  a  serious  affair 
for  the  small  proprietor,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether 
the  comiijittee  is  right  in  trying  to  stop  exploitation 
on  a  large  scale.  At  all  events  it  seems  a  mistake 
thus  to  restrict  private  enterprise.  The  Finlanders 
are  perhaps  less  hostile  to  the  intervention  of  middle- 
men than  certain  other  more  prejudiced  nations,  but 
even  they  complain  of  the  middlemen  buying  forest 
lots  to  re-sell  to  third  parties.  They  hardly  sufficiently 
realise  the  benefits  of  commerce,  or  understand  that  it 
is  only  trade  which  gives  value  to  the  forests.  It  is 
not  sufficient  for  the  forest  to  exist ;  the  owners  must 
know  how  to  sell  it,  to  collect  the  scattered  material, 
and  to  take  advantage  of  the  movements  of  the  market. 

In  Finland,  as  in  Sweden,  the  purchase  and  tenure 
of  forests  and  forest  property  by  joint-stock  companies 
has  been  spoken  of  as  a  danger.  In  the  Swedish 
provinces  of  North  and  West  Botten  such  companies 
are  said  to  hold  respectively  2 1  and    1 3   per  cent,  of 


94  FINLAND 

the  land.  In  Finland  the  amount  is  not  so  much, 
but  there,  too,  they  have  acquired  about  2000  farms. 
Sometimes  they  only  work  the  forests  and  sell  the 
farms  ;  sometimes  they  retain  and  sublet  the  farms  or 
grow  hay  on  the  land.  As  a  rule,  such  companies 
treat  their  woods  better  than  the  peasants,  often 
managing  them  according  to  the  most  scientific 
methods  of  forestry  ;  and  it  may  be  stated,  as  a  general 
rule,  that  forestry  is  one  of  those  rare  kinds  of  busi- 
ness which  can  be  worked  better  by  a  large  proprietor 
than  a  small  one.  Now,  most  of  the  large  properties, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  are  not  very  numerous,  are 
found  in  the  well- cultivated  parts  of  Finland,  not 
especially  in  the  forest  country.  Here,  in  the  north, 
in  Kuopio,  Eastern  Vasa,  and  Northern  Tavastehus,  is 
the  part  where  the  companies  have  bought  land  ;  in 
one  part  of  Kuopio  they  have  bought  a  whole  small 
village.  A  company  usually  has  the  capital  which  is 
necessary  for  the  long  business  of  bringing  down  the 
lumber,  and  also  for  enabling  the  vendor  to  wait  for 
the  best  market.  We  will  not  here  lay  stress  on  the 
democratic  nature  of  the  joint- stock  company ;  its 
shares  are  the  means  by  which  the  people  can  take 
part  in  the  acquisition  and  holding  of  land.  But  even 
if  the  forest  property  is  bought  with  the  intention 
of  felling  the  whole  forest  and  perhaps  selling  the 
land,  this  may  be  just  the  right  thing  to  do,  for  many 
public  and  private  reasons.  We  have  spoken,  too, 
about  the  participation  of  foreigners  in  forming  these 
companies,  and  thereby  acquhing  land ;  to  get  foreign 
capital  into  the  country  is  a  well-appreciated  advantage. 
If  the  peasants  sell  their  farms  to  the  companies  and 
themselves  prefer  to  be  tenant-farmers  or  even  carters 
and  timber-floaters  under  the  company,  they  do  it,  as 
a  rule,  because  it  is  more  advantageous  for  all  parties. 


FORESTRY  95 

The  power  to  register  a  contract  about  the  sale  of 
timber  only,  and.  not  land,  with  the  right  of  mortgage, 
is  a  step  in  advance ;  there  is  thus  no  need  to  sell  the 
land  too,  where  such  a  sale  is  not  desirable,  but  only 
to  obtain  security  for  the  mortgage. 

Misfortunes  such  as  forest  fires  and  destructive 
winds  occur  after  the  felling  of  the  timber.  A  dried- 
up  waste  easily  takes  fire  and  burns  freely ;  also  it 
is  overrun  by  insects,  and  the  clearance  of  the  trees 
gives  access  to  the  wind.  Fire  is  certainly  the  worst 
evil.  It  is  a  question,  however,  whether  fires  increase 
with  cultivation.  In  the  United  States,  in  Illinois  and 
Southern  Wisconsin,  for  instance,  we  have  seen  large 
tracts  of  country  becoming  gradually  covered  with 
trees  because  the  prairie  fires  no  longer  overrun  the 
country  every  autumn  as  in  the  time  of  the  Indians, 
destroying  young  seedlings  everywhere  except  on  the 
wet  borders  of  lakes  and  rivers.  In  Finland  in  former 
times  fires  were  very  frequent  on  account  of  acts 
of  negligence  in  lighting  fires,  and  even  more  on 
account  of  the  burning-over  of  the  land,  which  has 
thus  destroyed  a  far  greater  part  of  the  forest  than 
was  intended.  As  a  rule,  in  spite  of  the  risks  attend- 
ant on  the  lumber-man's  work,  fires  are  much  less 
numerous  and  destructive  than  formerly,  though  they 
are  still  a  great  danger.  Our  readers  must  have  seen 
a  forest  fire  to  understand  what  it  really  is.  It  re- 
sembles to  some  extent  a  heath  or  prairie  fire,  running 
over  the  soil  and  killing,  though  not  always  entirely 
destroying,  a  large  number  of  trees  ;  only  some  of  the 
older  pine-trees  being  able  to  withstand  it.  In  Finland 
particularly,  fires  have  destroyed  dense  forests  of  pine 
and  fir  over  large  tracts  of  country,  changing  them  into 
woods  of  less  valuable  deciduous  trees  ;  though  in  some 
cases  the  burnt  forest  was  rapidly  replaced  by  young 


96  FINLAND 

resinous  trees.  Terribly  destructive  winds  also  were 
experienced  in  1866,  1873,  1890,  and  1897.  The 
gale  of  1 890  enabled  the  peasants  in  parts  of  Southern 
Finland  to  get  a  good  supply  of  wood  with  which  to 
build  themselves  houses. 

Fortunately  the  law  in  Finland  has  not  forbidden 
cfrazins:  in  the  woods.  This  would  have  been  an  un- 
practical  restriction,  impossible  to  maintain.  Cattle- 
grazing  is  also  a  considerable  aid  in  the  reproduction 
of  the  forest.  From  the  far  north  come  complaints 
of  the  reindeer  interfering  with  young  plants  by 
their  trampling,  and  destroying  great  quantities  of 
young  trees  by  scraping  them  with  their  horns.  Here, 
too,  a  certain  amount  of  grazing  is  helpful  to  the  grow- 
ing trees  in  places  where  there  is  an  abundance  of 
reindeer  lichen  ;  but  hard  grazing  dries  up  the  soil,  to 
the  great  detriment  even  of  the  older  trees.  Hundreds 
of  thousands  of  spruce  are  felled  to  obtain  lichen 
durinsf  the  winter  when  there  is  not  enoue^h  on  the 
ground ;  special  men  are  engaged  on  this  work ;  but 
it  is  no  great  loss,  because  they  only  cut  down  the 
unhealthy  valueless  trees  on  the  marshes.  In  some 
northern  districts  an  extravagant  number  of  trees  are 
cut  down  to  obtain  small  fir  branches  to  place  under 
the  cattle.  Millions  of  cart-loads  of  moss  are  taken 
away  for  the  same  purpose,  or  to  fill  up  joints  in 
wooden  building's,  but  this  does  not  hurt  the  forest. 
We  hear  sometimes  of  damage  done  by  pigs  to  the 
growing  woods  near  the  villages ;  but  every  one  knows 
that  it  is  especially  the  pasturage  of  sheep  and  horses 
which  does  harm  to  the  young  plants.  And  as 
complaints  about  the  sheep  have  only  come  as  yet 
from  the  island  of  Aland,  we  realise  that  the  Fin- 
landers  are  not  very  far  advanced  in  the  science  of 
forestry. 


FORESTRY  97 

Tlae  province  of  Uleaborg,  which  forms  the  northern 
part  of  the  country,  contains  about  half  of  all  the  land 
in  Finland.     Even  up  here  there  are  great  stretches 
of    well-cultivated     land    near     the     coast ;     and     on 
the  sandy  sub-soil  which  we  meet  here  in  one  part 
of  the   country,   we    find    the    celebrated    prairies   of 
Limingo.     But  in  the  east  of   this  same    district    of 
Ule&,   which   extends   from   the   Gulf   of   Bothnia   to 
the  Russian  frontier,  we  find  in  the  parish  of  Kuusamo 
an  immense  forest  which  even  now  has  not  been  fully 
explored.     At  the  enclosure,  communal  land  here   to 
the    extent    of    82,000    acres    was    reserved    for    two 
parishes.     In  the  interior,  in  the  district  of  Kajana, 
people  have  lived,  and  still  largely  live,  by  burning  tar 
in  the  forest.     We  may  well  be  astonished,  however, 
to   learn   that  in   this   part  of  the   country,  with   its 
immense  tracts  of  woods,  there  are  continual  complaints 
about  a  lack  of  timber.     We   do   not   refer   only   to 
the    buildings    on    the    coast,    where,    as    in    Iceland, 
dwelling-houses  are  made  of  turf  because  there  is  so 
little  timber ;    it  is  from  parishes  where  the  peasants 
hold   some    5000   acres   of   forest   each,   from   Upper 
Tornejl,  for  instance,  that  complaints  come  of  a  lack  of 
wood,  with  the  result  that  the  government  has  granted 
each  man  from   1200  to  2500  acres  of  Crown  forest. 
A  good  many  of  the  peasants  have  met  this  liberal 
treatment  by  an  immediate   sale   of  all   their  heavy 
timber,   the    contract    being    usually    that    a    loan    is 
granted  without  interest,  which   they  must  repay  by 
delivering    wood.      In    certain    parishes    with    large 
forests  the  peasants,  owing  to  their  bad  economy,  have 
now  nothing  to  sell  from   the  woods  except  the  osier 
bark.     The  destruction  of  the  forests  began   in   this 
part  of  the  country  and  continued   in   the   Lapnuirk, 
on  the  only  land  there  which,  so  far,  has  been  divided 

u 


98  FINLAND 

between  the  Crown  and  the  parish  authorities.  De- 
struction of  the  forest  in  these  parts  is  so  much 
the  more  dangerous  because  regeneration  is  extremely 
slow  and  difficult.  In  the  Lapmark  there  are  large 
areas  of  old  woodland  where  the  forests  have  been 
destroyed,  and  at  the  end  of  several  generations  show 
no  signs  of  fresh  growth.  In  this  country  there  is 
indeed  need  for  the  forester's  art. 

Of  two  kinds  of  State  interference  in  forest  business 
the  Finlanders  have  fortunately  chosen  State  owner- 
ship, instead  of  interference  with  private  ownership. 
As  we  have  already  pointed  out,  the  State  has  from 
the  first  asserted  its  rights  over  all  waste  land,  retain- 
ing not  only  the  greater  part  of  those  northern  terri- 
tories where  practically  nobody  lives,  or  only  a  few 
nomads  are  found  with  their  reindeer,  but  also  what 
was  left   after  an  enclosure  had  been  made  and  the 
peasants  had  obtained  their  750,  1200,  or  2000  acres, 
or  as  much  as  they  could  readily  use.      It  is  thus  that 
the  Crown  has  obtained  its  enormous  property  of  35 
million  acres.     In  1875  it  amounted  to  ^y^  millions, 
but  since  then  large  areas  have  been   given   to   the 
peasants  in  addition  to  what  they  got  at  the  enclo- 
sures.    There  arises  a  question  of  great  importance  to 
forest  cultivation,  one  to  which  we  have  already  alluded 
and  would  now  come  back — whether  large  allotments 
are  for  the  future  to  be  granted  to  settlers.     Lest  we 
should  seem  to  exaggerate  the  value  of  these  Crown 
properties,  we  must  explain  that  31:^  out  of  these  3  5 
million  acres  are  situated  in  the  northern  province  of 
Uleaborg,  where  indeed  the  Crown  owns  three-quarters 
of  the  soil.      Much  of  the  land  here  is  entirely  unpro- 
ductive,  even   if  it   is   not   all   peat-bog,  marshes,  or 
rocks.      On    the    other   hand,  there    is    a    large   area 
well  suited  for  forest-growth  ;   and  on  the  whole  the 


FORESTRY  99 

State  property  is  exactly  in  those  regions  which  are 
suitable  for  forests,  and  where,  as  already  mentioned, 
there  is  only  a  small  population.  Others  of  these 
Crown  lands  are  on  the  heights  of  the  interior  of 
Vasa  and  in  the  east  of  Kuopio  and  Viborg.  Four- 
teen million  acres  of  the  entire  total  is  dry  forest  soil, 
and  2 1  millions  bogs,  rocks,  and  water.  Some  of  the 
bogs  and  marshes,  however,  produce  timber,  their  area 
being  reckoned  in  1869  at  5  million  acres.  Barely 
8f  million  acres  of  forest  are  located  where  at  present 
they  are  profitable.  On  another  3  million  acres  are 
found  young  trees,  or  soil  capable  of  producing  valu- 
able timber. 

Not  till  1850-51  was  it  decided  to  establish  a 
proper  forest  administration.  In  earlier  times  officials 
were  appointed  chiefly  to  look  after  the  huntmg  and 
shooting ;  in  other  respects  the  State  property,  even 
when  finally  separated  from  the  common  lands  of  the 
peasants,  was  managed  by  the  regular  district  officials. 
Busmess  such  as  the  organisation  of  farms  which 
could  pay  taxes  was  of  greater  public  interest.  Baron 
Edmund  von  Berg,  the  President  of  the  renowned 
Forest  School  of  Tharand  in  Saxony,  was  now  sum- 
moned, and  it  was  on  his  advice  (which,  however,  was 
only  partially  followed)  that  an  Administration  for 
the  Forests  was  established  in  1859,  with  additions 
made  in  1863.  That  this  is  not  yet  sufficient  is  due, 
among  other  causes,  to  the  enormous  size  of  the  dis- 
tricts under  its  control,  there  being  four  districts  of 
more  than  3f  million  acres,  twelve  of  over  250.000 
acres,  twenty-five  of  over  60,000  acres,  and  nine  of 
a  smaller  extent.  The  forest  guards  are  numerous 
compared  to  the  foresters  at  the  head  of  the  districts, 
but  these  guards  are  uneducated  men  with  a  very 
small  salary.      Up  to  the  present  time  little  has  been 


lOO  FINLAND 

done  besides  preserving  the  forests  and  selling  tlie 
heavy  timber  for  the  benefit  of  the  Treasury.  For- 
merly this  Crown  property  had  been  used  by  every- 
body pretty  much  as  they  pleased. 

In  1863  a  School  of  Forestry  was  established  at 
Evois,  but  instruction  here  was  occasionally  checked 
by  an  insufficiency  of  pupils.  Lately  the  school  has 
been  extended  and  a  course  of  instruction  in  forestry 
has  been  suggested  at  the  University  of  Helsingfors,  it 
being  generally  admitted  that  advanced  studies  are 
more  profitably  carried  on  at  a  university  than  in 
isolated  schools.  A  much-needed  course  of  instruc- 
tion for  the  forest  guards  has  also  been  instituted ; 
and  it  is  proposed  to  establish  a  station  for  experi- 
mental forestry,  as  has  been  done  for  agriculture. 
Every  year  small  grants  of  money  are  distributed 
through  the  agricultural  societies  for  the  promotion  of 
forest  cultivation,  which  can  hardly  yet  be  said  to  exist. 
The  State  foresters  are  allowed  to  assist  private  persons 
in  drawing  up  schemes  of  growth  and  other  work. 

The  principal  question  for  the  future  will  certainly 
be  to  what  extent  land  fit  for  agriculture  and  for 
settlement  is  to  be  separated,  as  decided  by  recent 
laws,  and  furthermore,  how  much  forest  land  shall  be 
granted  to  each  settler.  The  importance  of  such  laws 
depends  to  a  great  extent  on  how  they  are  applied. 
If  the  Crown  forest  land  is  to  be  treated  as  a  com- 
mercial undertaking,  commercial  value  must  be  the 
principal  consideration.  That  ought  to  be  the  object 
of  the  million  of  acres  which  have  been  put  aside  as 
"  Kronoparks,"  that  is  to  say,  for  regular  forest-growing. 
We  need  not  speak  of  the  Crown  parks  maintained  for 
the  public  benefit  on  account  of  their  beauty,  such  as 
those  near  the  great  waterfall  of  Imatra  and  near  one 
of  the  lakes  at  Punkaharju. 


FORESTRY  loi 

In  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  a 
theory  was  held  that  the  forests  ought  to  be  given 
up  to  the  interest  of  the  mines  and  factories.  This 
was  in  accordance  with  the  common  protectionist 
principles  of  the  time,  according  to  which  these 
mines  and  factories  were  supposed  to  be  for  the 
benefit  of  the  country,  even  if  they  did  not  pay,  but 
on  the  contrary  cost  more  than  they  brought  in.  Now 
the  great  question  is,  what  to  do  for  the  peasants  who 
desire  to  utilise  the  land. 

Such  thoughts  seem  to  have  influenced  the  action 
of  the  government  even  when  they  had  under  con- 
sideration the  question  of  purchasing  the  forests  in  the 
public  interest.  It  was  not  only  at  the  time  of  the 
general  enclosure  that  the  government  acquired  land. 
On  the  recommendation  of  the  Forest  Committee  of 
1874,  land  was  bought  during  the  period  of  1874-95 
in  those  parts  of  the  country  where  the  government 
thought  it  desirable  to  preserve  the  woods,  and  where 
ground  tit  for  this  purpose  Avas  to  be  had  ;  as,  for 
instance,  in  East  Vasa,  in  South- West  Ibo-Bjorneborg, 
in  South-East  Tavastehns,  and  in  St.  Michel.  For 
about  one  million  marks  170,000  acres  was  acquhed. 
To  this  must  be  added  425,000  acres  reserved  as 
Crown  parks  when  the  donation  estates  in  East  and 
North  Viborg  were  purchased  from  the  Russian  nobles, 
of  which  area  83,000  acres  are  still  reserved  for 
peasants  who  maj'^  desire  to  buy  them  after  paying  for 
their  farms.  Not  only  this  work  of  purchasing  forests 
but  the  whole  work  of  separating  the  agricultural  land 
from  the  forests,  and  especially  the  forming  of  Crown 
parks  for  forest  cultivation,  has  been  stopped  since 
1895. 

To  what  extent  ouffht  land  to  be  granted  to  settlers 
without   payment  ?      In   the   United   States   the   best 


102  FINLAND 

cultivators,  and  ttose  who  produce  the  wheat  and 
maize  of  the  country,  are  not  the  "  homesteaders " 
or  settlers  who  obtain  their  land  for  nothing,  and 
are  only  obliged  to  cultivate  a  small  part  of  it  for  five 
years;  it  is  rather  the  men  who  buy  their  land  from 
these  settlers  or  from  the  railway  companies  which, 
during  one  period,  obtained  large  grants  of  land 
from  the  government.  In  Finland  complaints,  appa- 
rently well-grounded,  are  heard  of  settlers  who  tried 
to  obtain  land  simply  in  order  to  re-sell  the  woods 
which  were  given  to  them  so  liberally  for  almost 
nothing.  The  more  recent  laws  reserve  to  the  Forest 
Administration  the  right  to  sell  all  full-grown  timber 
for  ten  years ;  but  such  reservation  is  hardly  sufficient. 
There  is  scarcely  any  opportunity,  for  instance,  of 
selling  scattered  outlying  trees.  The  Forest  Adminis- 
tration is  doubtless  right  when  it  recommends  that 
these  free  gifts  of  agricultural  land  and  large  tracts  of 
forest  should  be  discontinued.  In  Sweden  the  govern- 
ment has  been  obliged  to  repurchase  large  areas  of 
land  from  the  settlers  in  Jamtland,  who  had  got  them 
for  nothing,  and  whose  rights  in  the  forest  clashed 
with  the  right  of  the  Lapps  to  use  the  forest  pastures 
for  their  reindeer.  A  new  provincial  law  in  Sweden 
has  tried  to  check  the  settlers'  prompt  destruction  of 
their  woods,  by  an  order  that  they  must  cut  trees  only 
under  the  direction  of  the  Forest  Administration.  It 
has  been  proposed  to  imitate  this  proceeding  in  Fin- 
land, but  it  would  be  better  not  to  give  away  these 
large  tracts  of  forest,  and  so  avoid  subsequent  inter- 
ference with  natural  liberty.  Such  restrictions  rarely 
answer ;  and  where  it  is  in  the  public  interest  to  pre- 
serve and  manage  the  forests  it  is  better  for  the  State 
to  do  the  work  itself.  This  fact  is  not  sufficiently 
recognised   in   the   matter  of  the  settlers;     their  too 


FORESTRY  103 

liberal  treatment  is  mainly  a  result  of  modern  false 
sentimentality.  Men  in  authority  are  by  no  means 
the  last  among  those  who  profess  democratic  views 
and  wish  to  be  friends  of  the  peasants,  even  where 
their  action  violates  common  sense.  In  the  far  north 
it  would  be  especially  detrimental  to  the  country  to 
destroy  what  is  still  left  of  the  woods.  The  larger 
part  of  the  Lapmark  forests  still  await  division  between 
the  Crown  and  the  peasants,  but  even  where  the  work 
has  been  done  it  is  important  to  guard  the  rights  of 
the  Crown.  The  Lapmark  is  a  vast  territory  extend- 
ing through  three  degrees  of  latitude,  and  hardly  used 
for  anything  but  reindeer  pasture.  The  government 
has  been  recommended  to  keep  a  belt  of  land  32 
kilometres  broad  on  the  northern  edge  of  the  forest. 
A  division  of  the  forest  between  Crown  and  peasants 
is  desired  here  too,  so  that  the  trees  may  be  utilised  ; 
already  many  are  becoming  valuable,  and  the  great 
majority  are  rotting  and  losing  their  value  on  account 
of  their  age. 

Besides  the  regular  forest  cultivation  there  is 
other  work  of  great  and  probably  equal  importance. 
The  draining  of  large  or  small  areas,  among  other 
matters,  is  often  extremely  profitable.  In  1869  it 
was  computed  that  at  least  i]  million  acres  ought  to 
be  drained ;  this  being  often  necessary  simply  to 
preserve  the  existing  trees.  If  nothing  is  done  it 
seems  that  the  mosses  often  grow  so  rapidly  as  to 
kill  the  trees,  or  at  least  to  render  the  soil  too 
damp  for  forest  cultivation.  In  many  large  districts 
the  majority  of  the  trees  are,  it  appears,  skeletons, 
that  is  to  say,  they  are  dead  wood.  Some  improve- 
ment, not  less  radical,  is  needed  in  the  system  of 
floating  off  the  trunks  and  logs.  In  some  places  it  is 
necessary  to  prevent  private  persons  from  establishing 


104  FINLAND 

a  practical  monopoly  in  the  business  of  floating  wood, 
whereby  they  gain  complete  control  of  the  woods.  We 
shall  have  to  refer  to  this  matter  later. 

Of  some  interest,  too,  is  the  work  done  for  the 
"  bostallen "  or  farms  belonging  to  the  Crown  in  the 
provinces,  about  which  we  have  already  spoken.  The 
greater  number  of  these,  formerly  occupied  by  officers 
of  the  old  Swedish  army  who  were  supported  by  these 
lands,  have  since  1863  been  subject  to  the  super- 
vision of  the  Forest  Administration.  These  farms  are 
about  800  in  number  with  an  area  of  650,000  acres; 
they  comprise  also  about  390,000  acres  of  forest  and 
85,000  acres  of  marshes.  Since  1896  about  fifty 
other  State  farms,  comprising  about  40,000  acres  of 
woods,  have  also  been  placed  under  the  supervision  of 
this  administration,  and  the  case  will  soon  be  the 
same  with  the  glebe  land  of  700  rectories  and  vicarages, 
comprising  482,000  acres  of  dry  soil  and  115,000 
acres  of  marsh  land.  This  supervision  is  in  the  interest 
of  the  tenants,  including  the  pastors.  Up  to  date  only 
35,000  acres  have  been  taken  from  these  farms  to  be 
reserved  as  Crown  parks  and  forests. 

On  the  government  domains  the  big  trees  have 
been  counted.  In  i860  it  was  estimated  that  there 
were  about  nine  million  pines  large  enough  to  furnish 
big  logs;  that  is  to  say,  trees  25  centimetres  in  dia- 
meter at  a  height  of  6  metres.  In  addition  there 
were  five  million  trees  large  enough  for  railway-sleepers, 
that  is,  trees  18  centimetres  in  diameter  at  a  height 
of  6  metres.  Later  on  more  exact  measurements  were 
made,  the  result  giving  26i  million  first-class  trees  and 
30  million  second-class  trees;  and  if  we  include  the 
woods  where  the  trees  are  not  numbered,  but  where 
their  bulk  is  approximately  calculated,  the  total  number 
of   measured  trees  in  the   two   classes   are   estimated 


FORESTRY  105 

respectively  at  34I  and  45  millions.     This  is  not  much 
for  such  an  enormous  area,  being  only  one  first-class 
tree  and  i }  second-class  tree  per  acre ;  even  if  we  cal- 
culate the  numbers  on  the  dry  ground  alone  they  are 
only  2 1  and  31.     Nevertheless  there  are  large  districts 
where  we  find  nineteen  large  trees  per  acre.     For  the 
trees  sold,  the  average  price  during  the  period  1861-95 
has  been  2  marks   14  penni  per  tree,  or  4  marks  yy 
penni  per  cubic  metre.     In  the  richer  districts  the  price 
has  been  6  marks  5  8  penni  per  cubic  metre.    Now  the 
price  has  gone  up  considerably,  even  in  the  far  north, 
where  it  was  once  almost  impossible  to   sell    timber. 
In  some  districts  as  much  as    16  marks  per  tree  has 
been  obtained,  a  price  which  is  high  even  when  the 
present  price  of  boards  and  deals  is  allowed  for,  and 
can  be  explained  only  by  the  purchasers  being  obliged 
to  obtain  large  trees  in  order  to  fulfil   some   foreign 
order.     At  all   events,  these    80   million   trees  repre- 
sent, at  present  prices,  a   capital   of  more   than    100 
million  marks.     The  Crown  forests  themselves  are  pro- 
bably now   worth    200   millions.      During   the    years 
1874-83  they  furnished  to  the  saw-mills  on  an  average 
io|  per  cent,  of  the  logs  used  there,  and  from    1884 
to  1893    14  per  cent.     In  bulk,  however,  it  was  pro- 
bably  double   this   amount,   because  the    trunks    and 
logs  from  the   Crown   forests   are   considerably  larger 
than  those  from  private  woods.     In   1898   the  value 
of  the  total   amount   of  wood   sold   from    the    Crown 
forests  was  2,820,000  marks;  in  1899  the  amount  was 
5,120,000  marks,  and  for  the  first  six  months  of  1900 
it  was  already  4,470,000  marks;    930,000  trees  mak- 
ing a  total  of  390,000  cubic  metres.     The  sale  might 
probably  be  increased  yet  more  without  hurting  the 
forests. 

The  present   condition  of  these  Crown  forests  will 


io6  FINLAND 

be  better  appreciated  if  we  remember  how  they  were 
formerly  treated.  Over  large  areas  of  the  domains 
the  trees  have  been  nearly  all  ruined,  or  the  woods 
cut  down  to  obtain  resin  or  tar.  Elsewhere  the  forests 
were  burnt  for  the  sake  of  two  years  of  grain  and 
a  little  subsequent  pasture.  Even  now  there  is  a 
constant  succession  of  forest  fires,  mostly  due  to  negli- 
gence and  to  lack  of  necessary  organisation  when  the 
fire  has  to  be  combated.  In  some  years  the  fires  have 
been  fewer,  but  the  area  destroyed  in  this  fashion 
increased  again  during  the  period  1891-95  to  an 
average  of  40,000  acres  per  annum.  We  have  already 
spoken  of  the  increase  of  marshes  and  moss  in  spite  of 
a  certain  amount  of  work  already  done  to  check  them. 
Theoretically  the  modern  forest  administration  of 
Finland  is  perfect.  In  Germany,  where  in  some 
respects  the  theory  and  practice  of  forestry  is  best 
understood  and  carried  out,  there  are  too  often  lapses 
from  both.  In  some  German  States,  especially  Saxony 
and  parts  of  Southern  Germany,  where  the  principles 
of  men  like  Pressler,  G.  Heyer,  Judeich,  Von  Pfeil, 
Endres  and  others  have  been  adopted  and  well  executed, 
we  find  probably  the  finest  and  best  utilised  forests  in 
the  world.  In  Prussia  principles  have  been  laid  down 
contrary  to  simple  logic,  such  as,  for  instance,  the 
theory  that  in  forest  business  the  same  interest  on 
capital  ought  not  to  be  looked  for  as  in  other  industries, 
and  in  especial  that  we  ought  not  to  demand  ordinary 
interest  on  the  capital-value  of  the  trees  because  they 
grow  too  slowly  to  produce  such  interest.  It  is  said, 
too,  that  forests  ought  to  exist  for  the  benefit  of  the 
public  without  any  expectation  of  large  profit,  and 
that  it  should  be  regarded  as  beneficial  to  the  people 
to  produce  large  forests  even  if  this  costs  more  than 
the  woods  are  worth.     It  is  unnecessary  to  point  out 


FORESTRY  107 

the  illogical  character  of  these  so-called  principles,  or 
the  practical  mistake  of,  for  instance,  the  idea  that  the 
yearly  output  ought  to  be  regular  even  if  it  would 
obviously  pay  better  to  fell  more  trees  one  year  and 
less  the  next.  In  Finland  we  have  not  noticed  any  such 
erroneous  theories.  As  we  have  already  said,  it  was 
from  Tharand,  the  centre  of  sound  scientific  forestry, 
that  the  first  expert  advisers  came  to  Finland,  and  so 
far  as  we  can  see  the  present  administration  fully 
realises  the  principles  of  sound  economy.  It  under- 
stands, for  example,  the  importance  of  felling  imme- 
diately the  mass  of  old  trees  which  do  not  increase 
adequately  every  year  in  value,  and  the  enormous  mass 
which  are  already  too  old  and  partly  spoiled,  and  it 
sees  the  necessity  of  studying  the  demands  of  the 
market,  the  chances  of  finding  purchasers,  the  wish 
of  the  latter  to  purchase  special  timber  from  certain 
regions;  in  general,  all  the  market  fashions.  The 
Finlanders  do  not,  we  believe,  hold  the  bureaucratic 
idea  that  they  must  obtain  a  regular  yearly  output ; 
they  prefer  to  treat  the  forests  in  a  business-like 
manner.  There  is  need  of  energy.  It  is  right  that 
the  government  should  hold  and  exploit  a  large  forest 
property  instead  of  legislating  for  private  owners;  it 
holds  already  a  larger  area  than  any  other  govern- 
ment in  Europe,  and  probably  it  ought  to  increase  this 
area  by  following  the  advice  of  the  Forest  Committee, 
and  purchasing  woods  on  suitable  soil  where  they  can 
be  bought  cheaply ;  but  it  ought  to  be  able  to  spend 
on  such  work  more  than  500,000  or  750,000  marks, 
which  till  now  has  been  its  annual  expenditure.  Here 
is  work  as  important  and  interesting  as  any  task  in  the 
hands  of  any  State  in  Europe  ;  and  Finland  has  a  body 
of  officials  sufficiently  honest  and  capable  to  execute  it. 
Next    to   Finland,    Russia    and   Sweden    have    the 


io8  FINLAND 

largest  forests ;  but  only  one-third  of  their  area  is 
forest  land,  against  half  or  even  two-thirds  in  Finland. 
The  forest  area  in  Austria  is  about  one-third ;  in  Hun- 
gary it  is  between  a  quarter  and  a  third ;  in  Germany 
a  quarter ;  in  Switzerland  one-fifth ;  and  less  in  all 
other  countries.  In  Sweden  the  situation  most  nearly 
resembles  that  of  Finland,  but  much  more  rapid  pro- 
gress is  being  made  there  in  organising  the  Crown 
woods  or  areas  set  apart  for  regular  forest  cultivation. 
These  amount  to  15^  million  acres  against  the  2 1 
million  of  Finland.  Only  the  16  million  acres  of 
mountain  territory  are  not  yet  reserved.  In  Russia  it 
is  estimated  that  the  forests  in  three  of  the  northern 
provinces  cover  70  per  cent,  of  the  whole  country,  and 
in  the  other  five  northern  provinces  65  per  cent. 
Generally  speaking,  all  the  forests  in  Northern  Russia 
are  declared  to  be  government  property,  as  is  all  the 
land ;  but  notwithstanding  this  condition  of  affairs  the 
destruction  has  been  much  greater  than  in  Finland. 
In  Northern  Finland  the  best  trees  are  found  near  the 
rivers,  the  marsh  land  between  the  rivers  being  com- 
paratively bare  of  timber.  This  division  is  even  more 
marked  in  Northern  Russia ;  near  the  rivers  here  we 
find  belts  of  land  from  one  to  seven  kilometres  broad 
covered  with  firs,  birch,  aspen,  and  pines,  the  number 
of  the  latter  being,  however,  comparatively  small, 
while  in  the  enormous  marshes  between  the  rivers 
hardly  any  valuable  trees  are  found.  Everywhere, 
including  on  the  river  banks,  most  of  the  sound 
timber  has  been  felled.  The  forest  labourers,  as  a 
rule,  have  been  allowed  to  cut  down  trees  as  they 
please,  and  it  is  now  very  difficult  to  procure  the 
timber  required  for  commercial  purposes.  Over  the 
whole  of  this  enormous  area  there  are  barely  2  5,000,000 
acres  of  sound  forest  left. 


FORESTRY  109 

During  the  last  few  years  the  owners  of  the  Finnish 
forests  have  seen  their  property  more  than  double  in 
value.  The  timber  merchants  and  owners  01  saw-mills 
have  probably  experienced  an  even  larger  increase,  and 
the  workmen  have  had  their  large  share  of  benefit. 
On  the  forest  lands  of  the  north  they  are  paid  Ameri- 
can prices  for  their  labour ;  three  to  four  marks  a  day, 
or  eight  marks  for  a  man  with  a  horse.  Foreign  busi- 
ness men  and  capitalists — Swedes,  Norwegians^  and 
Englishmen — have  taken  part  in  this  commerce,  some- 
times in  person,  sometimes  as  shareholders  in  (mostly 
Finnish)  companies,  also  by  purchasing  logs  to  be 
lloated  to  saw-mills  on  the  other  side  of  the  Gulf  of 
Bothnia.  This  too  is  to  the  profit  of  the  country.  It 
is  said  that  the  present  energetic  exploitation  of  the 
timber  trade  is  eating  up  the  capital  of  the  future ; 
but  this  is  a  great  exaggeration.  In  the  first  place,  as 
we  have  said,  it  is  the  great  waste  inland  which  causes 
most  of  the  trees  to  be  cut  down  prematurely,  and 
this  will  grow  less  in  time  as  the  forest  becomes  more 
valuable.  In  the  second  place,  notwithstanding  this 
inland  consumption,  the  annual  increase  of  the  forests, 
including  the  Crown  forests,  is  larger  than  the  yearly 
felling.  This  increase  is  variously  estimated  at  from 
2  to  2.4  cubic  metres  per  hectare  (2i  acres)  in  the 
south,  and  from  .7  to  .8  cubic  metres  in  the  north. 
The  whole  consumption  may  be  2oi  million  cubic 
metres  per  annum,  but  the  increase  is  certainly  more 
than  2 1  millions.  In  Sweden,  where  also  in  former 
times  no  care  was  taken  of  the  government  forests, 
the  yearly  increase  is  estimated  at  2  cubic  metres  per 
hectare ;  in  Prussia,  with  its  poor  forest  land,  but 
where  much  better  care  has  been  taken  of  the  woods, 
even  if  sound  economic  principles  do  not  prevail,  the 
increase  is  -:.6  cubic  metres  per  hectare.     In  any  case, 


no  FINLAND 

in  Finland  both  increase  of  growth  and  output  of 
timber  might  be  greatly  increased.  The  use  of  seed 
and  planting  is  only  beginning  to  be  understood ;  and 
the  great  capacity  of  the  country  for  the  production 
of  timber  is  only  just  beginning  to  be  utilised  as  it 
ought.  Wood  of  the  most  valuable  dimensions  has, 
it  is  true,  been  selected  for  felling,  and  is  now  being 
selected,  but  the  increased  means  of  communication, 
and  the  growing  demand  for  smaller  sizes  in  timber, 
are  continually  creating  new  values  and  new  capital. 
There  is  an  enormous  opening  here  for  private  as  well 
as  public  enterprise.  We  have  been  astonished  to 
find  the  seeds  of  such  great  wealth  in  a  country  which 
has  for  so  long  been  notorious  for  its  poverty. 


CHAPTER  VI 

MINING   AND    MANUFACTURING    INDUSTRIES 

Finland  is  not  rich  in  minerals ;  at  any  rate  no  parti- 
cular mineral  wealth  has  yet  been  found  ;  but  although 
industrial  life  is  lagging  behind  agriculture  and  the 
timber  trade,  there  is  every  hope  for  the  future,  and 
in  some  respects  there  is  lively  progress.  Manufactures 
closely  allied  to  agriculture  and  forestry,  such  as 
creameries,  saw-mills,  and  pulp-  and  paper-mills,  stand 
very  high ;  but  most  of  the  other  manufactures  exist 
by  tariff  protection.  It  is  therefore  impossible  to  say 
how  far  they  are  genuinely  productive  or  what  their 
final  outcome  will  be.  Excellent  conditions  for  the 
development  of  certain  industries  exist,  and  we  can 
only  hope  that  they  may  be  used  aright,  and  that  the 
industrial  life  of  Finland  may  not  be  led  further  astray 
at  the  expense  of  other  business  and  of  the  great  body 
of  consumers. 

The  substratum  on  which  the  later  formations  of 
the  soil  are  found,  and  which  continually  appears  on 
the  surface,  is  granite,  in  its  various  forms  as  pure 
granite,  gneiss,  porphyritic  granite,  &c.,  and  is  not 
without  industrial  importance.  It  is  an  excellent 
building  material,  frequently  of  beautiful  colours,  light 
or  dark  grey,  blue-tinted,  brown,  or  red  of  the  shade 
of  raspberries  or  flesh.  Great  masses  of  granite 
have  at  different  times  been  taken  to  St.  Petersburg 
and  used  for  some  of  the  most  magnificent  buildings 
of  the  Imperial  city.     Thus  it  has  been  used  for  the 


1 1 2  FINLAND 

three  rows  of  pillars  fifty-five  feet  high  which  stand 
round  three  sides  of  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Isaac,  and  for 
the  Marble  Palace  ;  and  it  was  employed  for  the  monu- 
ment of  Alexander  I.,  in  building  the  quays  on  the 
Neva  and  various  canals,  and  for  the  ordinary 
pavement  of  the  city.  Finland  granite  was  used, 
too,  in  the  monument  of  Alexander  II.  in  Moscow. 
Finland  stone  has  gone  still  further  afield ;  thougji  the 
statement  that  the  porphyry  of  the  tomb  of  Napoleon 
came  from  the  coast  of  Lake  Ladoga,  or  from  the 
beautiful  porphyry  in  the  island  of  Hogland  in  Finland, 
is  incorrect ;  it  came  from  the  Russian  government 
quarries  in  Olonetz.  There  ought  to  be  a  considerable 
demand  for  this  granite,  since  very  few  countries  in 
Europe  have  such  fine  masses  as  are  found  on  the 
Scandinavian  peninsula  and  in  Finland.  On  the  great 
plain  of  Northern  Europe  there  is  hardly  any.  It  is, 
however,  a  product  of  great  weight  in  relation  to  its 
value,  and  the  transport  is  therefore  unduly  costly. 
At  any  rate,  the  production  in  Finland  is  quite  small, 
many  times  less  than  that  in  Sweden,  whence  granite 
to  the  value  of  fifteen  million  kronor  is  exported  every 
year.  In  1898  the  production  in  Finland  was  worth 
only  one  million  marks,  this  amount  being  double  what 
it  was  in  1893,  when  there  was  a  slight  decrease 
from  former  years.  More  than  half  of  the  whole 
production — paving-stones,  large  blocks,  and  polished 
stones — is  exported,  most  of  it  to  Russia.  In  1899 
the  export  was  a  little  less  than  in  preceding  years, 
probably  because  building  work  in  St.  Petersburg  was 
less  than  in  previous  years,  when  money  was  more 
abundant.  In  Finland  itself,  especially  in  Helsingfors, 
fine  building  work  has  been  done  in  granite,  the  new 
Union  Bank  being  a  good  specimen.  On  the  whole, 
however,  the  production  is  small  compared  to  Scotland 


MANUFACTUKING  INDUSTRIES         113 

and  parts  of  the  United  States,  where  there  is  a 
demand  for  fine  material,  whatever  its  cost.  In  the 
statistics  we  have  not  included  granite  buildinsfs  for 
agricultural  purposes  or  those  in  the  smaller  towns. 
Much  is  expected  from  the  recently-formed  Granite 
Company  of  Hango,  which  is  introducing  finished  work 
in  granite  into  Finland  for  the  first  time.  The  granite 
exported  into  Russia  in  former  times  came  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  St.  Petersburg,  and  the  material  was 
finished  there. 

The  beautiful  marble,  grey  or  tinged  with  blue  or 
green,  which  comes  from  the  coast  of  Lake  Ladoga,  is 
found  especially  at  Ruskiala,  where  a  pastor  named 
Alopa3us  discovered  the  quarry  in  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  This  marble  has  been  used  for 
palaces  and  churches  in  St.  Petersburg.  Plain  lime- 
stone has  been  used  for  building  from  the  oldest  times, 
as  Avhen  Birger  Jarl  during  his  crusade  in  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century  built  the  castle  of  Tavastehus. 
The  most  important  kind  in  use  at  present  is  the 
burnt  lime  of  which  common  mortar  is  made ;  this 
was  produced  to  the  value  of  700,000  marks  in  1898, 
as  against  one-third  of  this  amount  in  1893,  and  two- 
thirds  in  1 89 1,  which  was  a  better  year.  The  export 
of  limestone  and  mortar  in  1S99  was  barely  worth 
200,000  marks.  Even  the  most  common  building 
materials  have  to  pay  duty  when  imported  into  Russia. 
Burnt  chalk  is  used  with  peat  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses. Cement  is  used  in  some  cement  foundries,  but 
is  not  made  in  Finland. 

The  manufacture  of  bricks  and  tiles  rose  in  1898  to 
a  value  of  4  million  marks,  against  700,000  in  1893 
and  one  million  in  1895  ;  a  fact  which  helps  to  show 
the  activity  of  recent  years. 

In    the    manufacture    of    china    and    earthenware, 

H 


114  FINLAND 

especially  of  the  tiles  of  which  the  excellent  tiled 
stoves  of  Sweden  and  Finland  are  made,  imported 
material  is  used.  The  largest  factory  is  the  Arabia 
Works  of  Helsingfors,  where  the  output  in  1899  was 
2,200,000  marks  against  one  million  in  1893.  There 
is  a  small  export  to  Kussia  of  a  few  hundred  thousand 
marks'  value,  hampered  by  an  import  duty  of  7  marks 
32  penni  per  100  kilo,  imposed  in  1887;  and  even 
with  this  the  amount  of  importation  is  limited  to 
30,000  poods  or  491  tons.  We  mention  these  de- 
tails here  and  elsewhere,  because  they  are  necessary  in 
order  to  understand  the  industrial  relations  of  Russia 
and  Finland.  On  the  other  hand,  the  production  in 
Finland  is  protected  by  high  duties. 

The  manufacture  of  glass  has  developed  fast,  not- 
withstanding the  necessity  for  importing  the  raw 
material.  In  1898  glass  was  produced  to  the  value 
of  4  million  marks,  against  3  millions  in  1894.  The 
largest  manufactory  is  that  belonging  to  a  Russian 
Company  with  factories  at  Rokkala  in  the  province 
of  Viborg,  and  Utra  in  Kuopio.  Most  of  the  output, 
about  3  million  marks'  worth  in  1898,  but  only 
2 1  millions  in  1899,  was  exported  to  Russia,  this 
comprising  about  a  million  bottles,  some  window  glass, 
and  other  kinds  of  glass.  In  this  case,  too,  the  import 
is  hampered  by  a  duty  which  was  increased  in  1897 
to  I  mark  22  penni  per  kilo.  As  a  result  of  this, 
several  kinds  of  exports  have  decreased  in  amount, 
while  others  have  grown. 

In  1867  the  Norwegian  State  mining  expert,  T.  Dahll, 
found  gold  in  the  affluents  of  the  great  Tana  River, 
which  flows  into  the  Arctic  Sea  and  separates  Fin- 
land from  Norway.  Finnish  experts  also  examined 
the  country,  and  two  seamen  who  had  washed  gold  in 
California   went   up  and  worked  on   the   Ivalojoki  in 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         115 

the  Enare  Lapmark.  The  output  of  gold  has  not, 
however,  attained  any  great  importance  ;  during  recent 
years  its  vakie  has  hardly  reached  15,000  marks  per 
annum.  Some  small  nuggets  have  been  found  whose 
rough  exterior  shows  that  they  cannot  be  far  from  the 
main  reef;  and  a  piece  of  rock  has  been  examined  by 
some  experts  who,  for  various  reasons,  believe  that  it 
may  contain  gold.  The  most  recent  reports  say  that 
work  there  has  been  successfully  begun  by  a  man 
returned  from  Klondyke. 

Copper  ore  is  found  in  several  places.  Formerly  it 
was  extracted  from  the  Orijarvi  mine  in  the  well-known 
Fiskars  Works  in  South-West  Finland.  Copper  has 
also  been  found  in  the  parish  of  Kuusamo  in  the 
North-East,  but  not  in  sufficient  quantities  to  warrant 
the  beginning  of  regular  mining.  At  present  it  is 
only  at  Pitkiiranta  in  the  South-East  that  the  Russian 
Alexandroifski  Company  extracts  copper,  which  they 
treat  by  the  wet  process.  In  1899  they  extracted 
only  224  tons,  of  the  value  of  600,000  marks,  together 
with  a  very  small  amount  of  silver  and  tin.  These 
works  have  special  permission  to  import  into  Russia 
40,000  poods,  or  655  tons  of  copper  and  tin. 

Iron  plays  a  not  unimportant  part  in  the  history 
of  Finland  from  the  oldest  times,  its  extraction  beinsr 
at  first  carried  out  in  a  very  primitive  way.  Energetic 
men  have  repeatedly  taken  up  the  work,  bringing  to 
it  the  newest  methods  of  each  period.  Its  history 
presents  a  picture  of  varying  shades,  not  always  bright, 
and  we  must  admit  that  even  now  we  have  great 
doubts  about  the  future  of  this  interesting  industry. 
A  visit  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  to  Finland  in  16 14-16 
was  the  occasion  of  renewed  efforts  and  of  a  certain 
amount  of  success.  The  great  war  with  Peter  the 
Great   destroyed   everything,  but   when   the   war   was 


ii6  FINLAND 

over  the  iron-works  were  re-established.  In  the  nine- 
teenth century,  after  the  separation  of  Finland  from 
Sweden,  the  Swedish  government  forbade  the  export 
of  ore  to  Finland,  and  later  only  permitted  the 
export  of  a  limited  quantity,  till  in  i860  a  more 
liberal  period  began  and  restrictions  were  abolished ; 
nevertheless,  during  this  time  a  number  of  blast- 
furnaces were  established.  Now  that  Swedish  ore 
can  be  imported  freely,  it  is  only  in  Eastern  Finland 
that  it  pays  to  use  Finnish  ore,  this  latter  being 
partly  taken  from  the  lakes,  where  it  is  being  de- 
posited by  nature,  partly  from  the  hills,  and  a  little 
of  the  less  valuable  kind  from  the  morasses ;  such 
bog-ore  having  formerly  been  used  in  other  countries 
also.  In  1889  Russian  firms  began  to  extract  it 
from  the  hill  country  near  Valimaki  on  Lake  Ladoga, 
and  in  1896  at  the  Pitkaranta  copper  mines.  In 
1899  some  8300  tons  were  extracted  at  Valimaki, 
besides  4500  tons  from  the  moors.  Most  of  the 
ore  there,  which  is  not  at  first  rich  enough  to 
pay  for  transport,  is  ground  and  treated  by  a  new 
electro-magnetic  process,  whose  only  drawback  is 
that  it  produces  dust  which  is  poisonous  to  the 
workmen.  At  Pitkaranta  10,000  tons  are  ex- 
tracted yearly  and  treated  by  the  wet  process.  The 
whole  mass,  24,000  tons,  was  formerly  taken  across 
the  lake  into  Russia;  it  is  only  recently  that  part  of 
the  ore  was  treated  at  Pitkaranta,  In  1899  some 
17,000  tons  of  ore  were  imported  from  Sweden  into 
Western  Finland.  At  Jussaro,  experiments  connected 
with  the  great  name  of  the  late  Baron  Nordenskjold 
have  been  undertaken  in  regard  to  the  extraction  of 
ore  below  the  sea;  it  is  an  old  mining  enterprise  re- 
newed, but  probably  will  not  succeed,  as  the  ore  is 
not  rich.     In  1899  the  ore  from  the  lakes  and  moors 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         117 

showed  an  output  of  56,000  tons,  this  being  less  than 
in  some  former  years,  and  50  per  cent,  less  than  in 
1875.  It  contains  on  an  average  scarcely  36  per 
cent,  of  iron,  while  the  imported  ore  contains  about 
52  per  cent. 

The  production  of  pig-iron  in  Finland  is  carried  on 
in  fifteen  blast-furnaces,  eleven  in  Eastern  and  four  in 
Western  Finland,  one  in  the  East  (St.  Annse)  belong- 
ing to  the  Russian  government,  and  two  others  to 
the  great  Companies  of  Vartsila  and  Varkaus.  It 
amounted  in  1898  and  1899  to  about  27,000  tons, 
and  is  inclined  to  decrease;  in  1897  it  was  33,000 
tons.  The  import  in  1898  and  1899  was  the  same, 
some  22,000  tons.  The  export  to  Russia  in  1899 
was  11,000  tons,  a  decrease  on  the  12,898  tons  ex- 
ported in  1898,  and  14,500  exported  in  1897.  In 
Russia  a  duty  is  imposed  on  all  foreign  pig-iron ;  and 
in  1897  one  was  placed  on  pig-iron  coming  from 
Finland  too,  with  the  exception  of  i^  million  poods 
(24,570  tons)  produced  from  Finnish  ore.  If  we 
deduct  this  export  we  find  that  the  internal  produc- 
tion consumed  in  the  country  was  about  16,000  tons 
per  annum  in  1898  and  1899.  The  ore,  like  other 
raw  material,  does  not  pay  any  duty  in  Finland,  but 
pig-iron  has  to  pay  a  duty  of  i  mark  20  penni  per 
100  kilo.  As  the  price  is  determined  by  the  price 
of  the  imports  when  these  are  needed  to  supplement 
the  home  productions,  we  find  here  already  an  in- 
crease of  10  per  cent,  in  the  value  of  imported  raw 
material,  133,000  marks  for  the  whole  amount  of  i^ 
million  marks. 

The  treatment  of  iron  in  open  furnaces,  known  as 
Franche-Comte  and  Lancashire  furnaces,  is  decreasing ; 
in  1899  at  fourteen  works  there  was  still  an  output 
of  about  3000  tons,  worth  one  million  marks.     Lander 


ii8  FINLAND 

amounts  are  now  treated  by  puddling;  in  1899  there 
were  thirty  iron-works  belongmg  to  six  companies, 
using  15,000  tons  of  pig-iron,  which  yielded  13,000 
tons  of  mill-bars  and  smelted  iron,  this  being  double 
the  amount  of  1877.  Of  this  output  11,000  tons 
were  treated  in  nine  rolling-mills  and  produced  9000 
tons.  Yet  more  is  smelted  at  five  iron-works  in  the 
new  Siemens-Martiu  furnaces ;  the  amount  of  this  in 
1899  being  16,000  tons  of  pig-iron,  which  produced 
an  output  of  15,000  tons  against  only  3000  six  years 
ago.  Of  this  output  1 3,000  tons  were  rolled,  but  only 
a  small  portion  into  plates.  The  total  mass  of  iron 
treated  was  27,000  tons;  the  output  of  the  rolHng- 
mills  amounting  in  1899  to  2^  million  marks,  and 
of  the  smelting  works  to  3f  million  marks.  Here, 
too,  the  value  is  evidently  fixed  by  the  imports,  which 
in  1899  amounted  to  13,500  tons  of  billets  and  bars 
of  the  value  of  2,300,000  marks;  7759  tons  of  plates 
of  the  value  of  about  2|  million  marks;  1600  tons  of 
tubes,  and  632  tons  of  fine  iron  of  the  value  of  about 
half  a  million  marks.  Both  the  bulk  and  the  value 
were  a  little  higher  in  1898.  On  most  of  this  there 
is  an  import  duty  of  6  marks  50  penni  per  100  kilo; 
and  the  consequent  increase  of  price  to  the  detri- 
ment of  the  consumers,  among  these  many  of  the 
manufacturers,  is  probably  not  far  short  of  i|  million 
marks,  or  a  quarter  of  the  whole  value.  Besides  these 
amounts,  27,000  tons  of  rails  were  imported  duty-free 
in  1898,  and  24,000  tons  in  1899.  Some  export  of 
iron  goods  took  place  into  Russia,  where,  too,  in  1885 
and  1897,  a  duty  was  imposed  and  increased.  In 
1885  it  was  only  36  marks  60  penni  per  ton,  after 
1897  it  was  raised  to  48  marks  75  penni  per  ton. 
This  high  duty  is,  however,  only  about  one-third  of 
that  charged  on  imports  from  other  countries.     The 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         119 

whole  import  of  rolled  and  smelted  iron  which  is  per- 
mitted to  enter  Russia — 6552  tons — is  therefore  sent 
almost  to  the  last  pound. 

Among  the  output  of  pig-iron  we  have  still  to  men- 
tion the  work  from  the  forges,  amounting  altogether 
in  1899  to  about  8000  tons  of  a  value  of  3  million 
marks  against  2700  tons  in  1893,  4000  in  1890 
(which  was  a  better  year),  and  only  1700  in  1886. 
Included  in  this  amount  are  various  implements,  such 
as  axes,  hoes,  forks,  a  good  many  horse-shoes,  and  not 
less  than  6000  tons  of  nails.  Wire  nails  are  an 
especial  feature  of  this  industry,  and  the  insignificant 
and  lessening  amount  of  these  now  imported  only  in- 
cludes very  small  nails.  The  production  is  protected 
by  high  duties,  from  one  of  1 1  marks  80  penni  per 
100  kilo  on  wire  nails,  up  to  14  marks  70  penni  per 
100  kilo  on  other  kinds.  There  are  at  least  live 
rather  large  factories,  three  on  the  river  Loimijoki, 
one  of  these  belonging  to  the  Jokkis  Company  and 
the  two  others  to  a  company  which  also  owns  another 
factory  in  the  neighbouring  city  of  Abo,  and  another 
at  Pero  near  Viborg.  Their  continued  existence, 
however,  is  probably  mainly  due  to  high  protective 
duties. 

If  we  have  not  much  confidence  in  the  future  of 
this  historical  and  still  interesting  industry,  it  is  chiefly 
because,  notwithstanding  its  production  of  raw  material 
for  other  industries,  it  is  protected  by  high  duties  which, 
small  as  they  are  compared  to  those  in  Russia,  are 
still  harmful  and  contrary  to  all  sound  economic 
principles.  Finland  has  not  the  best  quality  of  iron 
ore,  and  the  time  is  past  when  wood  and  charcoal 
were  regarded  as  the  best  fuel.  EngUsh  coal  is  more 
and  more  needed;  from  1893  to  1898  the  con- 
sumption   of    this    increased    from     5000    to    about 


I20  FINLAND 

30,000  tons,  and  of  coke  from  under  4000  to  over 
5000  tons;  while  charcoal  has  continued  at  about  the 
same  figure,  300,000  cubic  metres;  and  wood-fuel 
has  only  doubled  in  amount,  rising  from  333,000 
to  666,000  cubic  metres,  and  being  now  about  the 
same  quantity  as  is  used  to  produce  the  charcoal.  In 
Western  Finland  especially,  a  large  quantity  of  English 
coal  is  now  used,  and  less  charcoal ;  and  this  change 
will  continue  with  the  progress  of  trade.  There  is  pow 
a  great  abundance  of  excellent  and  highly  appreciated 
iron  ore  in  Sweden,  particularly  in  the  new  mine  of 
Gellivara,  ore  which  is  in  great  demand  in  Germany, 
England,  and  even  in  France.  The  ore  is,  however,  sent 
untouched  to  these  countries,  because  its  treatment 
takes  the  coke  of  two  tons  of  coal  to  one  ton  of  ore, 
even  such  excellent  ore  as  the  Swedish.  It  is  not 
impossible  that  some  ore  may  be  treated  at  inter- 
mediate places  on  the  Swedish  and  Danish  coasts  of 
the  Sound,  because,  owing  to  the  commercial  relations 
between  the  Baltic  and  England,  and  owing  to  the 
heavy  goods  transported  from  the  Baltic,  coals  cost 
less  in  freight  per  ton  to  import  than  the  untreated 
ore  costs  to  send  out.  In  the  same  way,  in  the  United 
States  at  least  one-fifth  of  the  excellent  ore  on  Lake 
Superior  is  treated  at  intermediate  stations  along  the 
lakes,  on  Lake  Michigan  and  at  towns  in  Ohio  and 
other  places  ;  only  four-fifths  being  treated  in  Penn- 
sylvania, where  the  coal  is  found.  But  there  is  this 
great  drawback  to  a  wider  use  of  iron  ore  from 
Grangesberg  in  Central  Sweden,  whence  there  is  a 
large  import  into  Finland,  or  to  a  possible  larger  im- 
portation from  the  new  mines  in  Northern  Sweden ; 
that  the  ice  in  the  sea  hinders  all  maritime  transport 
during  the  winter,  and  it  would  be  necessary  to  store 
large  quantities  of  ore   for   a  long  time.     As  regards 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         121 

the  production  of  iron  and  steel  in  their  simple  forms, 
we  can  only  imagine  one  thing  which  could  increase 
the  productions  in  countries  like  Sweden  and  Finland ; 
this  would  be  a  larger  utilisation  of  electro-magnetism 
and  thereby  of  the  plentiful  water-power  already  used 
in  the  treatment  of  other  metals  and  in  the  very 
small  iron  production  at  the  mines  of  Valimaki,  about 
which  we  have  already  spoken.  But  at  the  present 
stage  of  development  of  the  iron  and  steel  industry 
we  are  unable  to  see  any  future  for  it  in  Finland. 

In  addition  to  27,000  tons  of  rails,  the  iron  used 
in  these  simple  forms  amounted  in  1898  to  44,000 
tons,  against  13,000  in  1893,  and  more  than  24,000 
tons  in  the  more  prosperous  year  of  1890,  when  there 
was  a  comparatively  large  increase  in  all  business.  If 
we  translate  all  iron  used  in  Finland  into  pig-iron,  we 
arrive  at  a  total  of  135,000  tons,  or  one  hundred- 
weight per  head.  This  proportion  speaks  fairly  well 
for  the  modern  development  of  the  country.  How 
small  the  quantity  produced  and  used  in  Finland 
really  is,  compared  with  that  of  the  great  countries,  is 
seen  when  we  recall  the  fact  that  the  production  of 
iron  all  over  the  world  amounts  to  40  million  tons  a 
year.  The  United  States  produce  over  15  million 
tons,  and  Germany  and  England  about  9  millions 
each. 

A  much  more  satisfactory  impression  is  given  by 
what  are  known  in  Finland  and  Sweden  as  mecha- 
nical workshops,  embracing  very  diverse  iron  industries, 
including  the  building  of  iron  ships  and  steamers.  We 
find  greater  progress  here,  and  in  most  branches  of 
such  industries  an  expansion  which  is  answering 
exactly  to  a  demand,  and  has  doubtless  come  to  stay. 
Without  including  the  workshops  on  the  State  rail- 
ways, forty-three  uianufacturiug  workshops  of  this  kind, 


122  FINLAND 

employing  6000  men,  were  in  active  work  in  1898. 
The  total  value  produced  in  1899  was  25  million 
marks,  against  19I  millions  in  1898,  and  5^  millions 
in  1887.  In  the  bad  years  of  1893  and  1894  the 
production  was  less  than  half  what  is  now  produced. 
Foundries,  which  mostly  belong  to  this  class,  have  in 
seven  years  doubled  their  output,  which  amounted 
to  1 1,000  tons  in  1899.  If  we  add  together  the  total 
production  of  all  mines  and  metallurgical  industries, 
we  arrive  at  a  total  value  for  1899  of  5  if  million 
marks,  against  a  total  of  44I  million  marks  in 
1898. 

Notwithstanding  this  large  progress,  especially  in 
the  mechanical  workshops,  the  import  of  machines 
and  details  of  machinery  has  increased  from  4  million 
marks  in  1889,  and  6  millions  in  189 1  (with  a  lapse 
to  4  millions  in  1 893),  to  the  very  considerable  amount 
of  19^-  millions  in  1898.  The  amount  was  one  million 
marks  less  in  1899,  because  a  smaller  number  of 
new  factories  were  erected  than  in  the  previous  year. 

On  some  of  this  importation  there  is  a  slight  irra- 
tional protective  duty,  which  in  some  cases  has  been 
mitigated,  though  insufficiently,  by  a  grant  of  free  im- 
port to  machines  or  parts  of  machines  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  new  factories.  Even  iron  or  steel  ships  of 
less  than  700  tons  and  over  400  tons,  when  sold  into 
the  country,  pay  a  duty  of  2  per  cent. ;  all  wooden 
steamers  pay  the  same,  and  iron  or  steel  steamers 
under  400  tons  as  much  as  4  per  cent.  We  have 
already  mentioned  the  recent  and  not  very  high  duty 
on  agricultural  and  dairy  machinery.  In  each  of  the 
years  1898  and  1899,  some  2f  million  marks'  worth 
of  agricultural  machines  were  imported,  and  dairy 
machines  to  the  value  of  upwards  of  |  million 
marks.     In  the  case  of  some  machines,  for  instance 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         123 

those  belonging  to  the  pulp  mdustry,  the  manufac- 
turers have  made  such  progress  that  they  can  now 
export  to  other  countries.  Without  the  import  duty 
they  would  of  course  be  able  still  further  to  develop 
the  sale  of  some  very  paying  specialities.  The  manu- 
facture of  locomotives  at  Tammerfors  for  the  State 
railways  has  been  assisted  by  a  considerable  loan  and 
by  some  minor  sums  of  money,  in  addition  to  the 
price  at  which  imported  locomotives  can  be  bought. 
These  sums  are  not,  however,  more  than  would  re- 
imburse the  makers  for  the  heavy  expenses  caused  by 
the  present  tariff. 

We  see  the  progress  of  special  manufactures,  espe- 
cially machines  and  implements,  when  we  study  the 
individual  factories.  We  thereby  get  interesting  in- 
formation about  past  history  as  well  as  about  possi- 
bilities for  the  future;  but  space  does  not  permit  a 
complete  survey,  and  we  can  only  mention  a  few  of 
the  largest  factories.  In  Nyland  the  Machine  and 
Bridge  -  building  Company  of  Helsingfors  make  a 
speciality  of  railway  bridges  and  steamers.  The 
Sandvikens  Company,  also  of  Helsingfors,  owns  a 
magnificent  dock  blasted  out  of  the  rock  on  the  sea, 
and  therefore  well  adapted  for  repairing  ships.  The 
Fiskars  Company  in  Western  Nyland  makes  agricul- 
tural implements  of  fine  iron  as  well  as  steel  billets 
and  plates ;  it  owns  two  blast-furnaces,  the  old  Visborg 
and  the  old  copper-mine  of  Orijiirvi,  and  a  consider- 
able amount  of  landed  property,  among  which  are 
manors  well  known  in  history  such  as  Gennas,  formerly 
owned  by  the  old  famity  of  Boije.  The  Billniis  Com- 
pany makes  a  speciality  of  spades,  shovels,  and  similar 
implements ;  and  the  Hogfors  factory  is  known  for  its 
excellent  foundry  work.  In  Abo-Bjorneborg  we  have 
a  Company  established  by  and  called  after  an  English- 


124  FINLAND 

man,  William  Cricliton,  wliicli  builds  men-of-war  and 
other  steamers ;  the  Abo  Iron  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, which  makes  railway  cars,  mowing-machines, 
and  reapers ;  the  Dahlsbruk  Company,  with  the  largest 
rolling-mill  in  the  country,  whose  speciality  is  iron- 
work for  ships;  the  Mathildedal  Company,  which 
makes  thrashing  and  other  agricultural  machines ; 
and  Messrs.  W.  Rosenlew  &  Co,  in  Bjorneborgy  who 
own  a  great  shipyard  and  mechanical  workshops,  and 
build  steamers.  In  the  province  of  Tavastehus  we 
find  the  Tammerfors  Linen  and  Iron  Manufacturing 
Company,  which,  besides  its  textile  factories  for  linen 
goods,  has  large  mechanical  shops  for  locomotives, 
pulp  machines,  &c.  In  the  province  of  Viborg  we 
have  Gallon's  mechanical  workshop  and  shipyard,  and 
the  Karhula  engineering  workshop  at  the  eastern 
mouth  of  the  Kymmene  River,  whose  speciality  is 
agricultural  machines.  In  the  province  of  St.  Michel 
are  the  great  iron-works  of  Paul  Wahl  &  Co.  at 
Varkaus  on  the  Saima  Lake,  where  a  river  runs  down 
from  lisalmi  and  Kallavesi  between  Nyslott  and 
Kuopio,  who  build  steamers  for  the  lakes  of  the  in- 
terior, but  are  connected  also  with  saw-mills  and  flour- 
mills  ;  and  the  Oravi  and  Haapakoski  Company,  whose 
speciality  is  iron  tubes.  In  the  province  of  Kuopio 
there  is  Vartsila  on  the  Jiinisjoki,  one  of  the  rivers 
running  into  Lake  Ladoga,  with  blast-furnaces,  an  iron- 
foundry,  and  a  rolling-mill.  The  same  company  owns 
Mohko,  to  which  belongs  the  biggest  unbroken  area 
of  landed  property  in  Finland.  Stromsdal,  on  the 
water-course  which  comes  from  Pielis  in  the  north- 
eastern part  of  the  district  of  Saima,  has  some  en- 
gineering works.  Each  of  these  works  has  lately 
produced  from  i  to  i|  million  marks  a  year,  the 
larger    ones    2    millions   or   more.     Several    of  them 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         125 

date  from  the  seventeenth  century,  and  have  held 
an  important  place  in  the  early  economic  history  of 
the  country ;  but,  as  is  natural,  have  nearly  all  now 
changed  the  character  of  their  productions.  Of  lesser 
iron-works  and  engineering  workshops,  with  a  chiefly 
local  trade,  there  are  about  fifty.  At  present,  as  we 
have  said,  it  is  chiefly  the  manufacture  of  machinery 
and  other  articles  used  in  the  country  which  has  been 
progressing,  and  this  will  undoubtedly  continue  to 
progress. 

Side  by  side  with  the  great  manufacturing  establish- 
ments the  work  of  the  artisans  has  also  made  progress. 
Their  output  has  increased  in  value  from  3  million 
marks  in  1893,  and  4  millions  in  1891  (its  former 
maximum)  to  8 A  millions  in  1898.  Some  of  their 
trades  are  a  natural  result  of  modern  progress,  such  as 
electric  work ;  others  are  in  answer  to  a  purely  local 
demand,  and  will  necessarily  remain  manual  work. 
Others,  again,  represent  antiquated  forms  of  industry, 
and  are  being  superseded  by  the  larger  establishments. 
Curiously  enough,  certain  artisans  increase  in  number 
in  bad  times,  the  reason  being  that  the  larger  works 
cannot  then  give  them  anything  to  do. 

The  great  water-power  of  the  country  has  created 
new  works  for  the  production  of  acetylene-light  mate- 
rial. The  works  are  at  Hiimekoski  in  Ruskiala,  and 
at  Linnakoski  near  Imatra,  from  which  latter  place  it 
is  intended  to  conduct  the  power  into  St.  Petersburg. 
Already,  however,  like  the  establishments  in  other 
countries  for  the  production  of  calcium  carbide,  these 
new  establishments  are  finding  difiiculty  in  selling 
their  product.  Efforts  have  been  made  to  form  a 
joint  trust  with  similar  works  in  Sweden  and  Norway, 
but  one  of  the  new  works  has  been,  it  is  said,  obliged 
to  stop  because  of  the  diflSculties  of  sale.     At  Tainion- 


126  FINLAND 

koski,  near  Imatra,  chloric  acid  kali  is  now  manu- 
factured, a  product  which  also  requires  considerable 
power. 

We  have  mentioned  the  decrease  of  tar  manufacture, 
which  has  now  sunk  in  value  to  li  million  marks, 
greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  forest.  The  boiling  of 
pitch,  manufactured  from  tar,  is  an  industry  which  is 
worth  mentioning:,  and  asfain  some  new  factories  estab- 
lished  for  the  manufacture  of  other  chemical  products, 
notably  two  new  factories  erected  at  Kotka  and  Bjorne- 
borgf,  connected  with  the  unfortunate  Trebertrocknunof 
Company  of  Cassel.  They  were  intended  to  produce 
charcoal,  wood-oil,  methylated  spirit  and  acid-chalk, 
but  failed  at  the  outset.  The  total  output  of  the 
chemical  industries  in  1898  was  estimated  at  7^ 
million  marks. 

One  product  of  the  forests,  bark,  and  especially 
willow-bark,  which  was  once  exported,  is  now  mostly 
used  by  the  tanners  of  the  country,  who  are  allowed 
to  import  all  kinds  of  tanning  materials  from  other 
countries  without  duty.  Half  of  their  hides  come 
from  the  country ;  half  are  imported  free  of  duty. 
They  produced  in  1898  leather  to  the  value  of  14 
million  marks  (nearly  double  the  output  of  1887), 
one  single  factory  belonginj^  to  Astrom  Brothers  in 
Uleaborg  being  responsible  for  over  3  million  marks. 
This  factory  also  exported  about  250,000  marks'  worth 
of  saddler}^  Other  large  factories  have  been  estab- 
lished at  Raumo,  at  Helsingfors  (where  the  new 
electric  tanning  method  is  used),  and  at  Korkeakoski  in 
Orivesi.  This  latter  is  in  connection  with  the  only 
shoe  factory  which  so  far  has  been  established  in 
Finland,  and  which  in  the  future  will  take  a  large 
part  in  the  manufacture   of  the   two   million   marks'  i 

worth  of  boots  and  shoes  now  made  in  the  country. 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         127 

The  saddlery-houses,  producing  goods  to  the  value  of 
i^  million  marks,  formerly  exported  largely  to  Russia, 
but  have  now  been  forced  to  abandon  this  export  in 
consequence  of  the  high  import  duty  imposed  by 
Russia  in  1897.  The  export  of  leather  was  worth 
2I  million  marks  in  1898,  but  this  also  suffers  under 
a  duty  of  18  marks  30  penni  per  100  kilo  imposed 
in  1885. 

The  manufacture  of  soap  increased  between  1889 
and  1898  from  under  700,000  marks  to  double  that 
amount.  Candles  are  manufactured  by  some  houses 
from  imported  stearine.  One  Russian  house,  the  Nevski 
Company,  with  3  million  marks  capital,  produces 
candles  to  the  value  of  about  600,000  marks  a  year. 
Like  many  other  Finnish  industries,  these  live  largely 
by  tariff  protection. 

Tariff  protection  perhaps  also  accounts  for  the  fact 
that^  the  manufacture  of  matches  has  not  made  any 
particular  progress;  the  whole  sale  of  the  country, 
worth  about  a  million  marks,  is  assured  without 
forcing  the  industry  to  any  progress.  Its  most  im- 
portant raw  material,  aspen- wood,  abounds  in  the 
country,  and  there  is  no  import  duty  on  the  chemicals 
which  are  at  present  used. 

All  over  Finland  numerous  small  flour-mills  are 
found,  as  is  natural  in  a  country  with  such  abundance 
of  water-power.  The  number  of  these  mills  is  esti- 
mated at  3000  ;  most  of  them  do  small  pieces  of  work 
for  people  who  bring  their  grain  to  be  ground  and 
pay  in  kind  or  "  toll "—"  tnllkvarnar,"  as  the  Swedes 
call  such  mills.  Large  mills  have  recently  been  estab- 
lished at  Vasa  among  other  places;  they  grind 
particularly  rice,  having  an  extraordinarily  high 
tariff  protection.  The  whole  quantity  of  grain  which 
they  grind  varies  naturally  with  the  harvest  and  ^vith 


128  FINLAND 

consequent  fluctuations  in  the  import.  In  1898  the 
value  of  their  products  was  returned  at  6  million 
marks,  after  the  bad  harvest  of  1897  ;  in  1895  it 
was  only  ih  million;  in  1893,  after  another  bad  year, 
it  was  4I  million  marks;  in  1892  nearly  7  millions; 
in  1890  again  only  i^  million. 

The  growth  of  the  sugar  refineries  is  also  due  to  a 
protective  tariff,  and  it  is  undoubtedly  by  this  means 
that  their  output  for  1899  reached  the  large  sum 
of  18  million  marks,  against  only  9 J  miUion  in  1889. 
Nearly  the  whole  amount  is  produced  by  two  large 
refineries,  the  Tolo  at  Helsingfors  and  the  Aura  at 
Abo.  If  we  add  the  amount  of  refined  sugar  im- 
ported, we  have  a  total  consumption  worth  about 
22  million  marks,  double  what  it  was  a  few  years 
ago;  a  good  illustration  of  the  increased  wealth  of 
the  people.  Since  1897  raw  sugar  from  Russia  has 
a  smaller  import  duty,  with  the  result  that  now  all 
sugar  is  bought  from  the  Russian  beet-sugar  factories, 
which,  as  our  readers  may  know,  form  a  kind  of 
trust  in  sugar  under  the  direction  of  the  Russian 
Minister  of  Finance.  This  decrease  in  duty  has 
diminished  the  revenue  of  the  Finnish  Treasury  by 
several  millions,  but  it  also  included  a  fresh  increase 
in  the  protective  duties,  to  the  advantage  of  the 
refineries. 

The  bakeries  produced  bread  to  the  value  of 
5  million  marks  in  1898,  against  2h  millions  in  1889, 
another  proof  of  better  living  among  the  people.  It 
is  especially  a  consequence  of  a  larger  use  of  wheat- 
flour,  to  which  we  shall  refer  later. 

An  exception  to  the  general  industrial  progress 
is  furnished  by  the  distilleries,  which  in  1898  pro- 
duced only  6f  million  marks'  worth  of  brannvin  or 
Scandinavian    whisky    against    ii4   million  marks    in 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         129 

!^l^;     ^.^,.'^97   the  value  of  the    output  amounted 
to   8^  milhons;  in  the  poor  year    of    1893   to    only 
5    millions.      In    1865    the   distillation  of    brannvin 
by  ^  anybody     at     home     was     forbidden ;     and     an 
excise    duty    was    imposed,    and    later    on    increased 
considerably  to    the    benefit    of   the  finances    of    the 
country;    this  was    with  the  intention  of    decreasing 
the  consumption  of  brannvin  to  a  total  of   1 1^  million 
htres    or    6^    litres  per  head,  according   to   the  esti- 
mate of  the  existing  population.     In  fact,  the  quantity 
consumed  has  decreased  below  this,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the    duty  has  assisted    the  work  of    the 
temperance   reformers   in   obtaining  this  result      The 
import  of  spirits  from  other  countries  is  not  allowed 
exemption  being  granted   only  to    Cognac,  rum,  and 
one  or  two  other  forms.     Scotch  and   Irish  whisky  is 
not  permitted,  because  at  the  time  of  these  exemptions 
It  was  not  known  in  the  Finnish  market.     The  utiHty 
of  this    restriction  seems  to  be  doubtful ;  in  Finland 
there  is  a  belief  that  it  assists  the  control  of  alcohol 
and  therefore  helps  the  efforts  on  behalf  of  temperance 
_    In    opposition  to  the  use    of   brannvin,  the    more" 
innocuous    beer-drinking    has    increased  considerably 
and    the    breweries    in    Finland     in    1898   produced 
30  million  htres  of  beer  against  19  millions  m  1893 
in    1882   a  duty  was  imposed  on   beer   in  the  form* 
of  a  tax  on  malt  to  the  amount  of   i   mark  per  10 
kilos.     We  will  not  here  discuss  the  question  whether 
a  malt  tax  is  the  most  just  and  convenient  method 
of  taxmg  beer.     A  decidedly  wrong  principle  has  now 
been    mtroduced   into  Finland  in  inntation  of    other 
countries,  especially  of  Germany,  viz.,  a  sliding  scale 
of  duties  which  puts  a  larger  tax  on  breweries  pro- 
ducing a  larger  amount;  in  Finland  the   lar^rer  duty 
IS  imposed  on  those  which  use  more  than  50,000  kilos 


I 


130  FINLAND 

of  malt.  It  is  a  practice  which  penalises  the  most 
progressive  and  economical  production.  Most  of  the 
breweries  in  Finland  are  small  ones.  The  largest 
brewery,  which  is  in  Helsingfors,  has  now  an  output 
worth  i§  million  marks. 

The  social  manners  and  customs  of  Finland  and 
Sweden  encourage  a  large  consumption  of  non-alcoholic 
drinks,  chiefly  soda-water,  with  the  result  that  factories 
have  been  established  producing  comparatively  large 
quantities,  the  output  in  1898  being  worth  about  a 
million  marks. 

The  production  of  tobacco  has  also  increased  con- 
siderably. The  output  of  the  factories  was  i  o^  million 
marks  in  1898  against  only  5  millions  in  1889;  the 
largest  factories  being  those  of  Strengberg  in  Jacobstad, 
Von  Rettig  in  Abo,  H.  Borgstrom,  junior,  in  Helsingfors, 
and  SergeyefF  in  Viborg.  The  raw  tobacco  comes  now 
mainly  from  Russia,  whence  it  pays  less  duty,  the 
amount  imported  from  Russia  being  two-thirds  of 
the  total  value  and  a  still  larger  proportion  of  the 
quantity.  The  duty  is  not  very  high,  but  there  is  a 
strong  protective  duty  against  prepared  tobacco. 

The  progress  of  the  printing  ofl&ces  is  one  more 
demonstration  of  increased  culture.  In  1898  the 
produce  from  these  was  worth  3f  million  marks  against 
only  2  million  in  1893  and  if  in  1889.  If  we  add 
to  this  the  output  of  the  lithographic  establishments, 
about  one  million  marks  in  value,  we  arrive  at  a  total 
of  about  5  million  marks.  Until  the  evil  days  of  the 
present  political  period  Finland  has  also  had  more 
than  200  newspapers,  using  about  one  million  marks' 
worth  of  paper  per  annum. 

The  most  important  manufacture,  or  at  any  rate  that 
which  produces  the  largest  values  next  to  the  saw- 
mills and  machine  factories,  are  the  textile  industries ; 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         131 

and  chief  among  these  are  the  cotton-spinning  and 
weaving.  In  1898  these  estabhshments  produced 
goods  to  the  value  of  about  26  million  marks,  which 
is  a  larger  amount  than  that  given  in  the  official 
statistics.  Five  large  factories  alone  .produced  about 
2o|  million  marks.  The  largest  of  all  was  established 
in  1820  in  Tammerfors  by  a  Scotchman  named  Finlay- 
son,  who  in  18 12  had  been  told  in  St.  Petersburg 
about  the  good  opening  which  existed  in  Tammerfors, 
his  informant  being  a  Dr.  Patterson  who  had  returned 
from  a  visit  to  Finland  on  behalf  of  the  Russian  Bible 
Society,  The  factory  is  now  owned  by  two  Russian 
families.  Von  Nottbeck  and  Rauch,  and  the  value  of 
its  products  is  about  1 3  million  marks.  There  is 
another  in  Vasa  producing  about  5  millions,  one  in 
Forssa  producing  6  millions,  another  in  Abo  producing 
one  million,  and  to  these  must  now  be  added  another 
in  Tammerfors  and  a  large  one  in  Bjorneborg.  In 
1892  the  whole  output  did  not  amount  to  13  millions  ; 
in  1 89 1  it  was  nearly  15  millions,  and  in  the  pros- 
perous year  of  1889  it  was  only  I2i  million  marks, 
or  barely  half  of  the  present  amount.  In  later  times 
about  five  or  six  million  kilos  of  cotton  have  been 
imported  and  from  one  to  two  hundred  thousand 
kilos  of  thread.  This  amount  of  cotton  is  now  four 
times  as  much  per  head  as  it  was  thirty  years  ago, 
in  1866-68  (0.65  kilo).  In  1898  the  import  of 
finished  and  half-finished  goods  was  worth  8|  mil- 
lions of  marks  (including  cotton  pieces  worth  over 
6  millions,  yarns  and  threads  2h  millions),  against  a 
total  of  3  millions  in  1893,  and  5|  mdlions  in  1891. 
In  1899  the  import  seems  to  have  been  less,  amount- 
ing only  to  4  million  marks  of  piece  goods  and  if  of 
yarns  and  threads ;  figures  which  are  probably  due  to 
a  larger   manufacture   in   the   country.     The  amount 


132  FINLAND 

used  in  1898  was  undoubtedly  of  the  value  of  about 
30  million  marks,  and  not  25^  millions  as  stated, 
against  13^  million  marks  in  1893,  and  18  millions 
in  1 89 1,  which  year  was  previously  the  high-water- 
mark of  the  consumption.  The  export  figures  have 
remained  about  the  same,  being  2f  million  marks  for 
piece  goods  in  1898,  to  which  must  be  added  i| 
million  marks  for  thread,  making  a  total  of  about  4I 
million  marks  of  export  in  1898.  The  piece  goods 
exported  in  1899  were  of  the  value  of  3  millions. 
Finer  goods  are  imported  from  other  countries,  and 
cheap,  glazed  fabrics  of  bright  colours  from  Russia. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  is  an  export  to  Russia  of 
other  kinds,  though  it  is  hampered  by  a  duty,  imposed 
in  1897,  of  from  68  marks  40  penni  to  75  marks 
70  penni  per  100  kilos,  and  even  with  this  duty  the 
import  is  not  allowed  of  more  than  50,000  pood  or 
about  819  tons.  The  export  also  has,  in  fact,  been 
limited  to  this  small  amount.  In  Finland  itself,  too, 
the  protective  duties  are  very  high,  though  several 
times  less  than  in  Russia ;  they  are  2  marks  per  kilo 
on  plain  cotton  goods.  Imports  into  Finland  from 
Russia  do  not  pay  any  duty  whatever.  In  relation 
to  the  value  of  the  goods,  the  duty  on  goods  coming 
from  other  countries  amounts  generally  to  about  one- 
third  of  the  total  value. 

Linen  goods  are  manufactured  by  the  large  Linen 
and  Iron  Manufacturing  Company  of  Tammerfors, 
which  has  a  nominal  capital  of  6,200,000  marks,  as 
well  as  by  two  other  factories  which  do  most  of  their 
work  with  thread  imported  from  England  and  Germany. 
Two-thirds  of  the  flax  comes  from  Russia.  The  import 
is  stated  to  be  of  the  value  of  about  one  million  marks, 
nearly  all  of  it  being  the  simplest  piece-goods,  sack- 
cloth, and  so  on.     As  the  export   amounts   to   about 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         133 

the  same  as  the  production  of  these  factories,  it  seems 
as  if  the  large  inland  consumption  is  stUl  provided  by 
home  workers,  that  is  by  hand-weaving.  Even  the 
very  cheap  imported  material  pays  a  duty  of  about 
one-third  of  its  value.  The  duty  on  the  different 
articles  varies  from  90  penni  to  4  marks  50  penni  per 
kilo.  Import  into  Russia  is  permitted  under  a  lower 
duty  of  6  marks  10  penni  per  kilo,  with  a  maximum 
import  of  50,000  pood  or  819  tons.  An  article  which 
we  may  mention  as  one  with  which  the  Russians  can- 
not compete  is  white  thread,  which  is  used  in  Russia 
to  tie  up  tea-packets.  Small  quantities  of  goods  are 
sold  to  other  countries,  including  Denmark,  and  some 
special  articles  are  even  sent  to  England. 

There  are  twenty  or  more  woollen  factories,  including 
some  rather  important  establishments  in  Helsingfors 
and  Tammerfors,  in  and  near  Abo,  and  even  in  the 
country  at  Hyvinge.  The  people  buy  a  considerable 
quantity  of  yarn  from  the  spinning  factories  to  weave 
at  home,  a  method  of  manufacture  which  is  antiquated 
and  not  very  profitable.  The  total  woollen  production 
of  the  country  is  officially  stated  to  be  worth  yl  million 
marks;  but  it  is,  in  fact,  nearly  10  million,  as  com- 
pared with  2^  million  in  1893  and  3  J  million  in  1891, 
previously  the  "  record "  year.  The  import  of  wool 
amounts  to  about  2  million  marks,  on  which,  contrary 
Lo  the  general  rule  in  regard  to  raw  material  coming 
into  Finland,  import  duty  is  demanded.  The  value 
of  woollens  imported  in  1898  was  about  13  million 
marks,  9  million  representing  cloth  and  3  J  milUon 
yarn.  In  1899  the  yarn  amounted  to  4  millions,  but 
the  cloth  and  other  piece-goods  only  to  6  millions. 
Of  this  last-mentioned  import  li  milhon  marks'  worth 
comes  from  Russia  duty  free,  the  other  4^  millions 
representing   a   better    class    of   goods    which    Russia 


134  FINLAND 

cannot  supply.  The  protective  duty  in  this  case  also 
amounts  to  about  one-third  of  the  value. 

Hosiery  and  knitted  goods  are  now  made  in  several 
establishments  in  Helsingfors  and  Tamraerfors ;  in  the 
latter  place  the  houses  of  Messrs.  Dalberg  &  Co. 
and  the  Klingendal  Company  produce  goods  of  con- 
siderable value.  Here,  too,  protection  is  given  by  a 
very  high  duty.  No  export  of  woollens  to  Russia  on 
a  lower  scale  of  duty  is  allowed ;  but  the  duty  is  lower 
on  a  small  amount  of  hosiery  and  knitted  goods. 

Ready-made  clothes  are  manufactured  to  the  value 
of  about  four  millions.  The  import  duty  is  calculated 
on  the  material,  with  a  certain  additional  sum  for  the 
work. 

The  Finlanders  speak  with  some  pride  of  these  large 
factories  of  cottons,  woollens,  linens,  and  knitted  goods. 
Several  of  the  factories  have  now  the  most  modern 
machines  from  England  and  Germany,  and  some  of 
them  give  the  impression  of  being  admirably  managed. 
Still  it  is  only  with  grave  doubt  that  we  can  look  at  the 
future  of  these  industries,  which,  like  many  others  in 
Finland,  rest  altogether  too  much  on  tariff  protection. 
As  long  as  they  can  increase  their  prices  proportion- 
ately to  the  amount  of  the  duty,  they  may  continue  to 
produce  goods  to  the  profit  of  their  shareholders  or 
other  proprietors  ;  but  at  the  same  time  they  are  doing 
it  to  the  loss  of  the  nation.  At  present  most  of  these 
factories  pay  large  dividends,  though  not  quite  such 
large  ones  as  some  of  the  factories  in  Russia  with  the 
still  higher  duties  prevailing  there  ;  but  the  question  is 
how  much  of  this  revenue  is  due  to  the  protective 
duties.  It  does  not  create  a  favourable  impression  to 
see  several  of  the  factories  at  the  same  time  take  up  a 
variety  of  different  articles,  change  their  patterns,  and 
so  on.     If  the}^  were  not  obliged  to  lay  themselves  out 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         135 

entirely  for  the  home  market  in  order  that  they  may 
make  the  highest  possible  profit  out  of  the  protection 
accorded  by  the  tariff,  they  would  probably  go  in 
much  more  for  specialities  and  so  obtain  better  general 
results. 

It  is  natural  to  compare  the  manufactures  of  Finland 
with  those  of  Russia.  The  textile,  and  especially  the 
cotton  industry,  is  the  most  important  of  all  manu- 
factures in  Russia,  and  really  benefits  by  several 
natural  advantages ;  it  is  close  to  markets  in  which 
there  is  a  large  genuine  demand  and  which  use  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  cheap  cotton  goods ;  and  wages 
are  much  lower  than  in  England  or  in  America, 
or  even  in  that  part  of  Germany  where  weaving  and 
spinning  have  their  particular  home.  Nevertheless  it 
is  certain  that  the  great  majority  of  Russian  factories 
would  be  closed  on  the  day  when  they  could  no  longer 
live  by  high  protective  duties  at  the  expense  of  the 
consumer.  There  is,  however,  one  exception  to  the 
general  rule  in  Russia,  not  less  interesting  because, 
more  than  any  other  factory  in  Russia,  this  one  works 
under  conditions  very  like  those  in  Finland.  Von 
Schultze-Gavernitz,  a  German  author  who  has  ex- 
amined into  the  industrial  situation  of  Russia  with  the 
greatest  care  and  technical  knowledge,  exempts  this 
establishment  from  his  general  opinion  of  Russian 
factories.  It  was  erected  at  Kranholm,  at  a  fall  of  the 
river  Narva,  by  the  man  who  introduced  and  for  a  long 
time  dominated  the  cotton  industry  of  Russia,  the 
Anglicised  German  Von  Knoop.  It  has  this  advan- 
taofe  over  the  factories  in  the  interior  of  Russia,  that  it  is 
near  coal,  cotton,  imported  machinery,  and  other  manu- 
facturing material  which  are  of  importance ;  although 
here,  as  elsewhere  in  Russia,  high  duties  must  be  paid  on 
raw  material  and  other  articles  used.  But  then,  most  im- 


136  FINLAND 

portant  matter  of  all,  it  has  workmen  of  a  race  entirely 
different  from  the  Russians,  the  latter  being  unreliable, 
demanding  much  supervision,  making  continual  mis- 
takes which  use  up  material,  and,  finally,  seldom  fur- 
nishing first-class  work.  Von  Schultze-Gavernitz  calls 
these  other  workmen  Esthonians,  who  belong  to  the 
same  race  as  the  inhabitants  of  half  Finland ;  it  is 
more  likely,  however,  that  the  workmen  are  in- 
habitants of  Ingermanland ;  but  these  too  have  been 
and  still  largely  are  true  Finns.  In  this  factory 
one  man  can  supervise  20,000  bobbins;  and  it  is  only 
here  that  the  finest  thread  (No.  90  S.)  can  be  made ; 
Egyptian  cotton  and  combing  machines  are  used. 
Where  piece  goods  are  made,  one  weaver  takes  charge 
of  two  or  three  looms,  and  one  man  can  supervise 
fifty  workmen.  The  result  is  that  one  workman  here 
produces  goods  annually  of  the  value  of  402  roubles, 
against  only  146  in  Moscow  and  141  in  Vladimir. 
What  is  said  about  the  workmen  in  this  particular 
Russian  factory  undoubtedly  holds  good  about  the 
workmen  in  Finland.  The  Finns  are  inferior  to 
Englishmen ;  their  hands  are  less  good ;  they  make 
more  mistakes.  It  takes  time,  of  course,  to  train 
country  workmen.  But  English  superintendents  allege 
that  they  will  be  able  to  bring  the  Finnish  workmen 
to  as  high  a  condition  of  skill  as  their  English  com- 
panions. Even  if  the  result  is  less  productive  than  the 
English  labour,  it  will  probably  be  at  least  as  cheap  ;  the 
pay,  if  high  according  to  Finnish  standards,  will  be  lower 
than  the  English.  The  average  wage  in  Finland  for 
the  spinners  and  weavers  in  cotton  factories  is  637 
marks,  against  423  for  the  spinners  and  467  for  the 
weavers  in  Russia ;  for  the  weavers  of  woollens  521 
marks  in  Finland  against  466  in  Russia ;  for 
the  spinners  of  flax   480   marks   in   Finland  against 


MANUFACTUKING  INDUSTRIES         137 

3  3  2  in  Russia.  Notwithstanding  this,  work  is  cheaper 
for  the  masters  in  Finland,  in  spite  of  the  low  wages  in 
Russia.  At  present  Finnish  work  is  estimated  to  cost 
rather  more  than  English,  but  it  will  undoubtedly  be 
cheaper  when  the  hands  are  better  instructed. 

The  town  of  Tammerfors,  where  most  of  the  above 
and  many  other  kinds  of  manufactures  are  established, 
and  which  is  therefore  called  by  the  Finns  the 
Manchester  of  their  country,  is  at  present  in  possession 
of  the  valuable  privilege  of  importing  all  material  used 
by  the  factories,  including  thread  for  the  weavers,  free 
of  duty.  Alexander  I.  granted  this  privilege  to  the 
town  on  his  visit  to  Finland  in  18 19,  and  it  was  re- 
newed by  Alexander  II.  in  1856  for  fifty  years,  i.e.  till 
1906.  The  liberty  is  excellent,  but  it  ought  to  be 
extended  to  the  import  of  such  articles  into  the  whole 
of  Finland. 

It  is  with  unmixed  satisfaction  that  we  can  review 
those  great  industries  which  are  connected  with  the 
principal  trades  of  the  country — i.e.  the  creameries, 
saw-mills,  and  the  manufactories  of  pulp,  pasteboard 
and  paper,  which  also  produce  the  greater  part  of  the 
values  exported  from  Finland.  In  speaking  about  the 
forests,  we  mentioned  the  wealth  which  has  lately 
come  from  them,  especially  through  the  saw- mills. 
As  a  result  of  the  greater  liberty  granted  since  1857 
— steam-power  being  now  allowed,  and  the  mills  being 
no  longer  restricted  to  certain  districts  and  certain 
quantities  of  wood,  and  since  1885  no  longer  needmg  any 
special  concession  for  the  introduction  of  steam  into  the 
work — a  great  number  of  saw-mills,  some  500  in  all, 
have  been  erected,  and  among  these  are  now  a  number 
of  very  large  mills,  producing  annually  work  worth 
millions  of  marks.  More  than  half  of  these  mills, 
especially  the  large  ones,  use  steam  instead  of  water- 


138  FINLAND 

power  ;  because  it  is  important  that  they  should  be 
situated  where  a  large  quantity  of  wood  can  be  collected 
for  export  instead  of  being  tied  to  places  near  water- 
falls. This  is  the  reason  why  the  larger  works  are 
located  at  the  mouth  of  rivers  coming  from  the  great 
systems  of  lakes.  Thus  at  Bjorneborg,  on  the  southern 
coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Kumo  River,  which  runs  down  from  the  lake  systems 
of  Nasijarvi  and  Pyhajarvi,  the  Riifso  Steam  Sawmill 
Company  has  its  works,  and  Messrs,  W.  Rosenlew  and 
Co.  and  Messrs.  Ahlstrom  have  very  large  mills.  On 
the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Kymmene,  which  runs  down  from  the  lake  system  of 
Paijanne,  in  the  town  of  Kotka,  a  town  which  has  been 
created  during  the  last  thirty  years,  large  firms  such 
as  Paul  Wahl  &  Co.,  Messrs.  Ahlqvist,  the  Norwegian 
firm  of  Gutzeit,  the  Halla  Company,  Messrs.  W.  Ruuth 
and  others,  own  saw-mills  which  are  producing  millions 
of  marks  yearly.  On  the  lake  system  of  Saima,  the 
biggest  system  of  all,  whose  extent  is  continually  being 
increased  by  the  making  of  canals,  it  has  been  found 
profitable  to  build  the  largest  mills  in  the  interior  on 
the  lakes,  where  in  especial  Messrs.  Hackmann  &  Co., 
and  Messrs.  Paul  Wahl  &  Co.,  of  Viborg,  have  large 
factories.  Big  mills  are  also  found  at  the  mouth  of 
the  smaller  rivers  in  Southern  and  South- Western  Fin- 
land, in  which  part  of  the  country  Herr  August  Eklof, 
of  Borga,  is  the  greatest  exporter.  Finally,  some  of 
the  largest  mills  are  located  in  the  far  north  at  Kemi, 
where  a  company  has  a  capital  of  c  million  marks, 
at  Uleaborg,  and  elsewhere.  At  present  wood  is  being 
sawn  and  transported  vid  the  White  Sea,  where  trunks 
and  logs  are  now  floated  out  from  part  of  the  Crown 
domains. 

Some  saw-mills  are  at  the  same  time  planing-mills, 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES        139 

and  it  is  reckoned  that  by  this  arrangement,  which 
reduces  the  bulk  by  one-sixth,  one-sixth  of  the  cost  of 
export  is  saved.  Planing-mills  in  Finland,  however, 
play  a  much  less  important  part  than  those  in  Norway. 
Joinery  and  cabinet-making  has  made  progress,  pro- 
ducing a  value  of  3-^  million  marks,  against  i|  million 
in  1893.  Some  of  the  factories  are  of  considerable 
size,  as  for  instance  those  of  Sandviken  and  Somas  in 
Helsingfors,  Boman  in  Abo,  which  produces  some  very 
fine  articles,  and  a  house  in  Borga  which  produces 
even  more  artistic  goods.  Such  goods,  however,  were 
imported  to  the  value  of  about  a  million  marks  in 
1898,  and  very  little  was  exported.  We  will  not  dis- 
cuss the  influence  on  this  industry  of  strong  tariff 
protection,  which  naturally  leads  it  to  work  especially 
for  the  home  market.  A  large  export  can  only  be 
created  by  producing  large  quantities  of  the  same 
goods.  Big  cities  like  Hamburg,  of  course,  have  a 
great  advantage,  being  centres  of  the  commerce  of  the 
world,  whence  goods  can  accordingly  be  distributed  in 
large  and  small  quantities  according  to  the  demand. 

Bobbins  for  the  large  spinning  factories  of  England 
and  other  parts  of  Western  Europe  are  now  partly  pro- 
duced in  Finland,  the  value  being  about  2  million 
marks.  The  factories  are  large,  and  located  in  the 
interior,  where  an  abundance  of  birch  is  found,  two 
factories  being  owned  by  the  Tornator  Company  at 
Lahtis  in  Tavastland,  and  at  Tainionkeski,  near  Imatra ; 
another  by  Colonel  Standertskjold,  near  Villmanstrand  ; 
and  there  are  several  others. 

The  largest  and  most  successful  industry  next  to 
the  saw-mills  and  creameries  is  undoubtedly  the  manu- 
facture of  pulp  and  paper,  which  at  once  uses  the  chief 
raw  material  of  the  country,  the  timber,  and  at  the 
same  time  utilises  a  part  of  the  enormous  water-power 


I40  FINLAND 

which  is  otherwise  little  used.  Altogether  the  water- 
falls of  Finland  now  actually  being  used  are  estimated 
to  represent  about  50,000  horse-power,  and  this 
industry  alone  uses  about  30,000.  Whenever  we 
find  one  of  these  forty  factories,  we  find  a  place  with  its 
name  ending  in  "  koski,"  the  Finnish  for  waterfall.  In 
addition  to  supplying  the  inland  demand,  the  factories 
export  goods  to  the  value  of  between  1 7  and  1 8 
million  marks,  the  sum  in  1899  being  18  millions. 
The  pulp  factories,  of  which  the  first  large  one  was 
erected  in  1865,  and  of  which  there  are  now  twenty- 
five  in  operation,  are  stated  to  produce  51,000  tons 
of  pulp,  of  the  value  of  about  6  milUon  marks ;  in 
reality  they  produce  much  more,  but  no  accurate 
information  is  obtainable  as  to  what  is  used  in  the 
country.  Two-fifths  of  the  output  is  exported,  half  in 
dry  and  half  in  wet  pulp,  and  the  latter  export  in 
particular  is  increasing.  Of  the  more  valuable  cellu- 
lose, of  which  there  are  eight  factories  in  operation, 
about  14,000  tons  were  produced  in  1898,  the  value 
being  4  million  marks,  of  which  2  J  million  marks' 
worth  was  exported.  At  the  same  time  the  paper 
factories  continue  to  import  cellulose.  Of  pasteboard 
about  31,000  tons  is  produced,  of  the  value  of 
4  millions,  included  in  this  being  felt  for  roof-work, 
and  especially  asphalt  felt.  The  greater  part  of  the 
export  consists  of  paper  and  pasteboard,  among  which 
the  more  valuable  kinds  of  wi-iting  paper  and 
cigarette  paper  have  been  of  late  considerably  in- 
creasing in  value.  Cardboard  and  the  cheaper  kinds 
of  paper  have  been  increasing  more  in  quantity 
than  in  value.  Paper  is  made  in  fourteen  factories, 
the  export  being  32,000  tons,  of  the  value  of  over 
14  million  marks.  Notwithstanding  the  import  duty 
in  Russia,  the  imposition  of  which  caused  the  manu- 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         141 

facturers  at  once  to  look  out  for  new  foreign  markets, 
Russia  continues  to  be  the  best  market,  though  con- 
siderable quantities  are  exported  to  England  and 
Germany,  some  to  Denmark,  Holland,  and  France,  and 
a  little  even  to  Brazil  and  Japan.  Paper  to  the  value 
of  1 1  million  marks  is  imported.  This  large  develop- 
ment in  the  trades  connected  with  pulp  and  cellulose 
has  taken  place  entirely  during  the  last  two  decades. 

Among  the  older-established  paper-mills  is  the 
factory  formerly  belonging  to  Messrs.  J.  C.  Frenckell 
and  Sons  in  Tammerfors,  with  very  varied  goods,  and 
where  rags,  straw,  pulp  and  cellulose  are  all  used ; 
and  the  Tervakoski  factory  in  Southern  Tavastland, 
belonging  to  a  company  under  the  management  of 
A.  F.  Wasenius,  a  mill  which  uses  only  rags  and 
produces  the  finest  kind  of  paper,  which  has  been  well 
represented  at  the  various  Paris  Exhibitions.  The 
first  large  pulp  factory  was  established  by  F.  Idestam 
in  Tammerfors  in  1865  and  later  at  the  Falls  of 
Nokia  in  the  same  neighbourhood.  The  latter  place 
is  well  known  in  older  Finnish  history,  as  it  is 
to-day,  for  its  beautiful  situation  on  the  Kumo  River, 
where  it  runs  out  of  the  Pyhajiirvi,  or  "  Holy  Lake," 
bringing  a  mass  of  water  from  the  Niisijiirvi  lake  system. 
This  company  now  produces  cellulose  also,  as  well  as 
all  kinds  of  paper.  Among  other  mills  which  make 
partly  pulp  or  cellulose  and  partly  paper  may  be 
mentioned  the  Manttii  factory,  north  of  Tammerfors, 
established  by  the  late  G.  A.  Serlachius ;  the  Valkiakoski 
factory,  east  of  Tammerfors ;  the  Ingerois  factory  at 
the  Anjala  Falls  on  the  Kymmene  River,  belonging 
to  the  Tammerfors  Linen  and  Iron  Manufacturing 
Company ;  two  great  factories  belonging  to  the 
Kuusankoski  and  Kymmene  Companies  at  the 
Kuusankoski    Falls    in     Kymmene;     the    great    new 


142  FINLAND 

Voikka  Works  on  the  same  river,  established  by  Herr 
R.  Elving ;  and  the  mill  of  the  Kangas  Company  at 
Jyvaskyla  in  the  interior  on  the  Pyhajarvi  lake  system. 
There  are  also  the  mills  of  Herr  L.  Hammar^n  at 
Kyrcikoski  in  Southern  Ostrobothnia,  and  the  mill  of 
Aannekoski  north  of  Jyvaskyla ;  the  cellulose  factory 
of  H.  Standertskjold  at  Villmanstrand ;  the  large 
pulp  mill  of  the  Enso  Company  on  the  Vuoksi  River ; 
and  the  paper  factory  of  the  above-mentioned  Tor- 
nator  Company  at  Tainionkoski  near  Imatra,  under 
the  direction  of  Eugen  Wolff  in  Viborg.  Each  of 
these  mills  produces  from  one  to  two  million  marks 
a  year.  They  have  been  erected  at  different  periods, 
but  especially  in  those  periods  of  expansion  in  which 
the  industries  of  other  countries,  too,  have  made 
especial  progress.  Much  is  heard  in  regard  to  this 
industry  about  the  abuse  of  cutting  down  small  sizes 
of  wood.  To  a  great  extent,  however,  their  cutting 
down  is  decidedly  profitable,  and  it  is  a  necessity  in 
any  scientific  forest  cultivation. 

The  total  progress  of  these  manufactures  which, 
as  will  be  seen  by  the  preceding  remarks,  differ 
greatly  in  their  national  importance,  may  be  summed 
up  in  the  following  figures.  In  1887  the  total  out- 
put was  estimated  at  114  million  marks;  in  1891 
at  170  millions;  then  less  during  the  following  bad 
years,  the  lowest  being  159  millions  in  1893.  It 
increased  again  in  1894  to  170  millions,  and  rose 
to  284  millions  in  1898,  and  to  at  least  300  millions 
in  1899.  The  number  of  workmen  engaged  in 
it  is  estimated  at  about  100,000,  or  about  4  per 
cent,  of  the  total  population  in  the  country.  On 
an  average  each  workman  produces  3 1 1 5  marks 
against  2136  in  1887.  The  manufactories  are  mainly 
found  in    the    south-west,  especially    in    Helsingfors; 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         143 

others  are  in  Tammerfors  and  Abo ;  others  in  Viborg, 
Vasa,  Bjorneborg,  Ule&borg,  Kotka,  and  Jakobstad, 
after  which  come  the  other  towns  on  the  coast. 
The  small  towns  have  not  progressed  as  much  as  the 
larger,  as  usually  happens  in  these  days.  Consider- 
able influence  was  exercised  in  former  days  by  the 
guilds  or  corporations,  which  were  finally  abolished 
in  1879,  ^^^^  which,  together  with  town  privileges, 
gave  to  certaia  small  towns  an  artificial  advantage  at 
the  expense  of  other  localities.  In  1887  each  business 
had  on  an  average  eight  workmen  and  an  output 
of  20,000  marks  per  annum;  and  in  1898  this 
average  was  twelve  workmen  and  36,000  marks.  In 
1843  most  of  the  work  was  done  by  hand;  there 
being  ninety  factories  with  8500  artisans,  6000 
hired  workmen,  and  an  output  not  much  exceeding 
2  million  marks  ;  while  most  of  the  master-craftsmen, 
notwithstanding  the  town  privileges,  lived  in  the 
country.  Now  only  a  small  part  of  the  manufacture 
is  produced  by  artisans,  the  amount  in  1897  being 
3 1  million  marks,  which  came  from  four  thousand 
shops  with  13,800  workmen. 

With  regard  to  the  wages  of  Finnish  workmen 
we  have  already  quoted  the  averages  in  the  textile 
industry.  They  vary  considerably  ;  for  one  reason, 
because  piece-work  is  much  in  vogue.  This  is  the 
case  even  with  women  and  children ;  as  an  example 
of  whose  wages  we  may  quote  the  women  in  the  linen 
mills  at  Tammerfors,  who  receive  2  marks,  the  boys 
receiving  i  mark  50  penni,  older  boys  1.90  and 
small  girls  1.40.  Wages  in  the  textile  mills  here,  as 
usual,  are  not  the  higfhest,  because  the  work  makes  less 
demand  on  the  strength  of  the  workers  and  is  not 
always  very  trying.  In  the  paper-mills,  where  the  case 
is  the  same,  the  average  wage  is  stated  to  be  6 1 2  marks, 


144  FINLAND 

to"  v/hich  must  be  added  house-rent  and  firewood.  In 
the  earthenware  and  china  works  an  average  of  666 
and  1442  marks  is  paid,  and  at  glass  factories  949. 
At  the  saw-mills  the  wages  are  higher,  being  849 
marks  besides  house-rent  and  firewood.  At  the  iron 
and  engineering  works  comparatively  high  wages 
prevail,  the  average  being  895  at  the  former  and 
1087  at  the  latter,  the  high  wages  in  the  engineering 
trade  being  due  to  the  rapid  progress  which  this  in- 
dustry is  making.  In  another  chapter  we  have 
mentioned  agricultural  wages,  and  pointed  out  that 
even  when  we  include  in  our  calculation  the  larger 
property  holders  and  peasant  proprietors,  the  average 
income  of  a  family  in  the  country  does  not  amount 
to  more  than  786  marks  a  year.  The  above-men- 
tioned wages  m  the  manufacturing  trades,  which  it 
must  be  remembered  are  the  wages  of  individuals, 
not  of  families,  are  therefore  very  favourable  when 
compared  to  the  incomes  of  the  agricultural  classes. 
The  impression  made  on  us  by  the  appearance  of 
the  factory  hands  in  Finland,  compared  with  that 
made  by  country  folk,  is  equally  favom'able.  The 
Finnish  workmen  have  their  faults ;  they  are,  for 
instance,  hardly  as  quick  as  those  of  the  Western 
countries ;  but  they  excel  in  other  directions.  They 
stick  more  closely,  for  instance,  to  hard  work. 
Generally  they  are  superior  to  the  Russians,  but 
these  latter  are  better  at  certain  kinds  of  work  in 
the  open  air ;  for  instance  men  from  the  province  of 
Jaroslav  excel  at  all  paving  work ;  Russians  are  also 
good  gardeners.  In  some  factories  we  have  met  men 
who  have  been  in  the  United  States,  and  who  are 
clever  at  introducing  new  methods  of  work. 

Women  are  employed  in  considerable  numbers  in 
certain  industries;  in  the  textile  mills,  for  instance, 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         145 

where  two-thirds  of  the  workers  are  women,  and  in 
still  larger  numbers  in  the  tobacco  factories.  The 
progress  of  the  textile  industry  would  have  been  im- 
possible without  women. 

The  law  of  1889  with  regard  to  child  labour  states 
that  children  between  twelve  and  fifteen  may  work 
for  seven  hours  a  day,  with  half-an-hour's  rest  for 
meals,  or  8-i  hours  when  they  have  completed  their 
course  at  school.  Children  between  fifteen  and  eighteen 
may  work  for  fourteen  hours  a  day  with  two  hours' 
rest  for  meals.  No  children  may  work  at  night.  At 
first  after  the  passing  of  this  law  their  number  decreased, 
but  the  factories  soon  accommodated  themselves  to  the 
new  regulations,  and  now  children  are  employed  in 
even  larger  numbers  than  before,  the  girls  especially 
in  weaving,  the  boys  in  glass  factories. 

A  law  of  1895,  which  came  into  operation  in  1898, 
compels  a  master  to  pay  a  workman  who  has  been 
incapacitated  by  accident,  three-fifths  of  his  wages 
after  the  seventh  day  of  the  accident ;  and  the  master 
must  insure  his  workman  for  the  same  amount  in  case 
of  his  being  incapacitated  for  a  longer  time  or  for 
life.  In  case  of  death,  certain  amounts  are  also  paid 
to  the  widow,  and  to  children  up  to  the  age  of  fifteen 
years. 

Much  good  work  is  done  by  associations  formed  by 
workmen  themselves,  as  well  as  by  private  efforts 
made  by  the  masters  on  behalf  of  their  men.  In 
Tammerfors,  for  instance,  we  have  seen  excellent  estab- 
lishments, with  libraries  and  well-arranged  kitchens, 
where  the  workmen  meet  and  Hsten  to  music  and 
otherwise  entertain  themselves.  Private  schools  of 
various  kinds  have  been  estabhshed,  and  the  govern- 
ment also  has  organised  schools,  not  only  an  ordinary 
polytechnic  institution  for  the  heads  and  managers  of 

K 


146  FINLAND 

departments,  but  schools  for  men  lower  down  in  the 
industrial  scale.  Socialistic  movements  are  not  un- 
known, but  do  not  exercise  any  great  influence ;  and 
large  strikes  are  not  numerous. 

The  Finlanders  take  a  grreat  interest  in  home  occu- 
pations,  and  schools  have  been  estabUshed  everywhere 
to  teach  such  employments,  in  which  much  zeal  and 
skill  is  often   developed.     The  State   frequently  con- 
tributes to  them,  giving  for  instance  300,000  marks 
in  1883.      The  Societies  of  Rural  Economy  and  others 
have  also   contributed   to  these   schools,  which   teach 
weaving  and  the  manufacture  of  common  implements. 
Many  articles  are  manufactured  all  over  the  country, 
and  certain  parishes  frequently  have  their  specialities ; 
as,   for   instance,  the    rocking-chairs,   spinning-wheels, 
and   thrashing-machines  which   are  made  in    certain 
localities   of   Ostrobothnia    and    Tavastehus,   and    the 
simple  waggons  which   are  made  in  the   province  of 
Viborg  and  frequently  sold  in  St.   Petersburg.     This 
domestic    industry   must   not    be    confused    with    the 
home   work    which    is   carried    on    in   large   parts   of 
Russia,  which  constitutes  the  whole  livelihood  of  the 
people   there,  and  does  not   therefore  answer  to  the 
requirements  of  modem   civilisation,   inasmuch  as   it 
necessarily  creates    poverty.     In    Finland    as    a   rule 
these  home   occupations   are   not  carried   on  for  the 
supply  of  family  needs;  but  even  here  the  form  of 
work   is   not   very  profitable  in  these   days  of  cheap 
factory   production.     We   have   noticed,  for   instance, 
weaving-schools  teaching  hand-work  such  as  is  done 
in  the  factories  by  machines,  a  decidedly  unproductive 
employment.     Much  of  this  household  industry  is  also 
very  antiquated ;  and  it  is  a  poor  argument  in  favour 
of  it  that  the  people  have  nothing  better  with  which 
to  employ  their  time. 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         147 

Among  the  more  important  conditions  of  industrial 
development,  personal  capacity  is  always  the  most  im- 
portant. We  have  spoken  of  the  workmen,  of  their 
progress,  capacity,  and  wages.  Just  as  important  are 
the  personal  qualities  found  in  the  heads  of  the  diffe- 
rent industries.  One  reason  for  our  belief  in  the  in- 
dustrial future  of  Finland  is  that  the  same  men  are 
able  to  manage  business  of  varying  kinds ;  the  same 
names  reappear  as  heads  of  different  departments. 
This  fact  leads  us  to  believe  that  they  are  as  well  able 
to  develop  industries  which  belong  naturally  to  the 
country  as  those  which  merely  live  by  artificial  tariff 
protection. 

It  is  not  without  reason  that  the  wealth  of  the 
waterfalls  is  spoken  of.  In  1889  the  chief  of  the 
Department  of  Communication,  the  late  Baron  G. 
Alfthan,  ordered  an  examination  of  the  waterfalls ; 
but  although  this  examination  has  not  been  extended 
to  the  rivers  running  out  into  the  Polar  Sea  and  the 
White  Sea,  nor  to  the  northern  portion  of  the  rivers 
running  down  to  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  700  falls  with 
above  two  million  horse-power  have  been  measured. 
It  is  true  that  the  utility  of  the  falls  in  the  northern- 
most part  of  the  country  is  less  because  of  the  ice  at 
the  bottom  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  and  of 
other  impediments ;  and  in  a  great  number  of  other 
rivers  the  power  of  the  falls  is  dissipated  in  rapids 
instead  of  forming  concentrated  water-power.  This  is 
in  consequence  of  the  somewhat  low  elevation  of  the 
country.  Among  the  large  lake  systems,  however,  the 
lakes  not  only  form  reservoirs  securing  a  regular  supply 
of  water,  but  the  large  body  of  water  coming  out  from 
these  lakes  creates  everywhere  a  sufficiently  concen- 
trated force.  Large  falls  are  found  in  the  northern 
rivers  running  out  into  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  but  in 


148  FINLAND 

these  particularly  the  water-power  is  spread  over  such 
a  long  distance  of  rapids  that  the  force  which  it  is 
possible  to  use  decreases  to  a  very  small  quantity. 
The  most  northerly  river,  the  Muonio,  has  a  fall  of  not 
less  than  72,000  horse- power.  Tornea  has  nine  falls 
of  more  than  30,000  horse-power  each,  one  of  1 16,000, 
and  another  of  1 33,000.  The  river  Kemi,  or  Kemijoki, 
has  three  falls  of  more  than  50,000  horse-power  each. 
These  rivers  respectively  receive  the  water  of  34,000 
and  53,000  square  kilometres  of  land;  and  the  snow 
on  the  mountains,  which  melts  late,  furnishes  a  con- 
tinuous body  of  water.  lijoki  with  its  affluents  has 
eighty  falls ;  and,  on  its  own  water  alone,  one  of  1 23,000 
horse-power,  and  nine  others  varying  from  1 1 ,000  to 
55,000  horse-power.  The  Kajana  and  Emajoki,  afflu- 
ents of  the  UleS,  or  Oulunjoki,  have  seven  falls  of  1 0,000 
to  27,000  horse-power.  After  the  Ulea  has  flowed 
out  of  its  large  lake  it  has  one  fall,  the  Niskakoski, 
of  158,000  horse-power  (one  of  the  instances  of  great 
reduction  for  practical  application,  for  it  can  only  be 
reckoned  at  27,000  horse-power),  and  another,  the  Pyha- 
koski  or  "  Holy  Fall"  of  not  less  than  222,000  horse- 
power. Few  of  the  rivers  farther  down  the  coast  have 
very  large  reservoirs,  with  the  exception,  however,  of 
the  Lojo  River  in  the  south-west  and  the  lake-system 
of  Janisjarvi  in  the  south-east,  from  which  come  the 
rivers  which  we  mentioned  when  speaking  of  the  in- 
dustrial establishments.  A  couple  of  large  falls,  also 
previously  mentioned,  are  found  on  the  river  Kumo 
where  it  runs  out  from  the  lake-system  of  Nasijarvi 
and  Pyhajarvi ;  and  we  have  referred  to  several  others 
on  the  rivers  which  carry  water  down  from  the  north 
to  this  system  of  lakes.  More  considerable,  and  also 
already  noticed,  are  the  four  falls  at  the  mouths  of  the 
Kymmene  River,  which  carries  down  the  water  from 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         149 

the  Paijanne  and  Puulavesi  lake -systems ;  these  have 
a  horse-power  varying  from  24,000  to   38,000.     Still 
larger  are  those  of  the  Vuoksi,  which  has  four  falls  of 
31-33,000  horse-power,  two  of  44,000  and   48,000, 
one  of  52,000,  and  finally  the  Imatra  fall  of  117,000 
horse-power.     In  this  part  of  Finland,  on  the  Vuoksi 
and  other  rivers  which  flow  into  the  Lake  Ladoga,  it  is 
beHeved  by  many  that  the  wealth  of  water-power  is 
going  to  create  a  particularly  rich   industrial   future. 
One  advantage  is  that  electricity  now  makes  it  possible 
to   carry  the   power   to  a  considerable   distance;   and 
also  the  electricity  which  is  created  by  these  falls  can 
now   be   directly   applied    in   metallurgy    as   in   other 
industries.     Certamly  the  plant  costs  more  with  water- 
power  than  with  steam.     Furthermore,  it  is  useless  to 
undertake  such  new   enterprises    until    certain    other 
conditions  have  come  into  existence ;  among  which  a 
market  for  the  resulting  output  is  not  the  least  im- 
portant.    Calcium    of   carbide,   for   which    there    was 
supposed  to  be  an  unlimited   demand,  is  said    to   be 
one  of  the  last  instances  of  this  difficulty. 

Like  most  other  countries  in  past  centuries  Fmland 
had  an  abundance  of  monopolies,  including  even  such 
a  popular  industrial  material  as  tar,  of  which  a  com- 
pany had  the  monopoly.  There  were  also  privileges 
for  the  towns.     In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 

century  some  considerable  men  came  to  the  front 

Chydenius,  who  was  in  advance  of  Adam  Smith,  and 
others  who  might  be  compared  with,  and  were  in 
some  degree  connected  with,  the  French  physiocrats 
especially  with  the  more  hberal  parts  of  their  doctrine.' 
To-day  the  Finnish  government,  acting  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  modern  liberalism,  has  lent  very  considerable 
assistance  to  the  industrial  development  of  the  age, 
and  in  particular  has  done  great  service  by  permitting 


150  FINLAND 

complete  industrial  liberty.  We  have  referred  to  the 
gradual  abolition  since  1857  of  restrictions  on  the 
saw-mills.  Not  long  afterwards  it  was  declared  per- 
missible for  everybody  to  enter  into  commercial  and 
industrial  business  if  he  merely  reported  himself  to  the 
authorities,  and  either  paid  a  tax  in  the  town  or,  if  he 
were  in  the  country,  paid  a  certain  fee  for  a  licence. 
Finally,  in  1879,  complete  industrial  liberty  was 
granted  by  the  abolition  of  the  old  guilds  or  close 
corporations,  and  of  the  privileges  of  the  towns. 
Practically  there  is  no  hindrance  to  the  formation 
of  joint-stock  companies.  Only  Finlanders,  however, 
can  be  directors.  While  in  Russia  it  takes  a  year 
to  get  through  the  formalities  of  formation,  and  costs 
generally  more  than  1000  marks,  it  costs  in  Finland 
six  marks,  and  is  done  in  a  week,  or  at  the  utmost 
in  one  month's  time.  The  worst  remaining  hindrance 
is  the  protective  tariff.  In  this  matter  little  progress 
and  even  some  retrogression  has  taken  place.  This 
is  in  consequence  of  the  peculiar  arrangement  by 
which,  according  to  the  old  Swedish  constitution, 
tariff-regulation  does  not  come  within  the  powers  of 
the  Diet.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  this  protective 
tariff  imposes  on  the  people  a  tax  of  many  million 
marks  a  year,  and  of  more  than  the  taxes  paid  by  the 
same  articles  to  the  Treasury.  It  would  be  interesting 
and  not  impossible  to  calculate  how  much  of  the  in- 
creased price  of  various  goods  is  due  to  this  tariff 
protection,  which  is  the  worst  possible  system  under 
which  manufactures  can  develop. 

The  extension  of  the  field  of  protective  duties  is 
often  a  means  of  producing  greater  liberty.  The 
amalgamation  of  the  Finnish  tariff  with  the  Russian, 
to  which  we  shall  have  to  come  back,  would  be  a  step 
in  the  opposite  direction,  and  an  enormous  diminution 


MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRIES         151 

in  existing  industrial  liberty.  The  Russian  tarifi'  im- 
poses a  high  duty  on  the  principal  as  well  as  on  the 
accessory  materials  of  manufactures,  on  coal,  iron, 
machinery,  cotton,  and  on  all  the  chief  necessities  of 
life.  The  duty  is  generally  three  or  four  times  as 
high  as  the  duty  in  Finland,  and  often  even  more.  It 
is  twice  as  high  on  iron  and  steel  billets,  more  than 
twice  as  high  on  iron  plates,  forged  iron,  nails,  and 
machines  ;  ten  times  as  high  on  wool,  and  three  to 
four  times  as  high  on  cotton  yarn.  The  duty  on  iron 
ore  would  increase  the  price  of  pig-iron  by  not  less 
than  35  marks  (or  24  per  cent.)  per  ton,  and  of  steel 
billets,  for  the  manufacture  of  which  1.32  tons  of  raw 
iron  is  needed,  by  at  least  50  marks,  without  reckon- 
ing any  profit,  if  their  production  in  the  country  was 
continued ;  otherwise,  if  imported,  by  80  marks  per 
ton.  The  hides  and  the  tanning  material  of  the  great 
tanneries  would  cost  considerably  more.  Even  the 
cotton  manufacturers,  judged  by  theii*  present  output, 
would  have  to  pay  3^  million  marks  more  duty  on 
cotton  and  half  a  million  more  in  duty  on  other  im- 
ported material  which  they  use.  The  introduction  of 
these  tariff  duties  into  Finland  would  cripple  many 
of  the  best  manufactures  of  the  country,  especially  its 
agriculture  and  forest  industry.  This  evil  influence  is 
apparent  enough  in  Russia,  where  it  contributes  greatly 
to  the  impoverishment  of  the  farmers,  and  results  in  a 
final  loss  also  to  the  manufacturers,  who  have  to  sell 
to  the  people  and  even  to  the  government,  which  is 
obliged  to  look  to  the  principal  industry  of  the  country 
for  its  main  revenue.  It  might  benefit  particular 
businesses,  such  as  the  factories  of  pulp,  cellulose,  and 
paper,  as  well  as  the  iron-works  in  the  east,  which 
would  find  a  larger  market  in  Russia.  Possibly  also 
more    waterfalls    would    be    utilised    and    divers   new 


152  FINLAND 

factories  erected.  But  it  would  be  bad  business,  and 
result  in  a  loss  for  the  nation,  not  to  mention  the  fact 
that  it  would  in  several  ways  create  a  difficulty  in  the 
present  economical  organisation  of  Kussia  itself.  It 
would  not  be  the  Fiulanders  themselves,  but  rather, 
as  in  Kussia,  foreign  capitalists,  who  would  estabhsh 
the  new  industries  and  make  money  at  the  expense  of 
the  people.  The  manufacturers  themselves  would  for 
the  most  part  be  of  the  same  character  as  at  present 
in  Russia,  where  so  many  mines  and  factories  live  at 
the  expense  of  the  people,  and  their  owners  often 
benefit  enormously.  But  every  such  factory  is 
obliged  to  close  on  the  day  when  reason  resumes  its 
sway  and  liberty  enters.  The  present  progress  in 
Finland,  which  is  closely  connected  with  the  progress 
of  international  commerce,  would  be  destroyed;  the 
whole  industrial  life  of  the  country  would  suffer ; 
civilisation  would  receive  an  enormous  set  back. 


CHAPTER  VII 

COMMERCE,    NAVIGATION,    AND   FISHERIES 

The  rapid  progress  of  Finland's  commerce,  one  of  the 
proofs  of  the  country's  development,  is  of  recent  date. 
The  old  Custom  House  statistics  are  of  little  value 
because  of  the  corruption  of  the  ofl&cials,  and  the  large 
amount  of  smugsflin*^  due  to  the  high  Customs  tariff 
and  other  causes.  Nevertheless,  in  1836,  when 
the  situation  of  the  country  was  already  greatly 
improved,  the  whole  foreign  trade  amounted  only 
to  18  million  marks,  about  equally  divided  between 
imports  and  exports.  In  1846  it  was  31  millions; 
of  which  the  exports  were  only  represented  by  the 
same  amount  as  in  1836,  9  million  marks,  and  the 
balance  of  22  millions  was  import  trade.  In  1841 
it  had  increased  to  44  millions,  of  which  26  millions 
represented  export  and  1 8  import ;  but  in  1 8  5  i  the 
total  was  only  37  million  marks,  of  which  10  millions 
represented  export  and  2  7  import ;  while  the  average 
for  all  foreign  trade  during  this  period  was  only 
32  millions.  In  1866  the  figures  increased,  showing 
a  total  of  76  millions,  of  which  28  millions  were 
export  and  48  import.  In  1875  it  went  up  to  243 
millions,  8  5  millions  export  and  158  import,  and  in 
1876  decreased  again  to  230  millions,  90  being  export 
and  140  import.  In  1886  the  total  had  decreased  to 
176  millions,  of  which  only  99  represented  import. 
But  from  that  time  foreign  trade  increased  rapidly,  to 
a  total  of  203  millions  in  1888  ;  236  millions  in  1889  ; 


154  FINLAND 

only  233  millions  in  1890,  though  with  a  balance  of 
48  millions  in  favour  of  imports;  and  again  only  239 
and  241  milHons  in  the  unfavourable  years  of  1892 
and  1893,  with  a  balance  of  imports,  however,  of  52 
in  1892  and  iii  in  1893,  In  1894  the  total  was 
again  274  million  marks,  with  scarcely  3  millions 
excess  of  imports,  it  being  now  Finland's  turn  to  liqui- 
date its  debt  to  foreign  countries.  In  1895  the 
total  had  increased  to  293  millions,  with  a  balance  of 
hardly  7|  millions  of  imports;  and  in  1896  to  332 
millions,  with  1 4  millions  excess  of  imports.  And  then 
in  the  following  years  came  a  large  increase  with  an 
especially  large  excess  of  imports ;  371  millions  in 
1897  with  a  balance  of  34  millions  of  imports;  417 
millions  in  1898  with  57  millions  excess  of  imports; 
436  millions  in  1899  with  66  millions  excess  of 
imports.  This  last  year's  total  shows  an  increase  of 
only  24  millions  on  the  preceding  year,  instead  of  40 
millions  increase  as  shown  in  the  two  preceding  years. 
In  1900  the  total  was  468  millions,  with  the  con- 
siderable excess  in  imports  of  73  millions  owing  to 
special  reasons.  During  the  last  ten  years  there  has 
been  a  doubling  of  the  whole  trade,  and  Finland  has 
thus  come  to  possess  a  foreign  trade  which  is 
large  relatively  to  the  number  of  its  inhabitants.  The 
average  for  this  trade  in  Finland  is  165  marks  per 
head  of  the  population ;  66  marks  per  head  being  the 
average  for  all  countries.  In  Russia  it  is  only  25 
marks.  But  the  Finnish  average  is  less  than  the 
neighbouring  Scandinavian  countries;  Sweden  having 
had  a  foreign  commerce  in  1898  averaging  220  marks 
per  head,  Norway  308,  and  Denmark  575  marks  per 
head. 

It    is    interesting  to    examine  the  character  of  this 
commerce.     As    regards   the  export  we  have  already 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      155 

called  attention  to  the  most  important  article,  timber, 
the  export  of  which  had  increased  in  value  in 
1 900  to  114  million  marks,  against  i  o  i  millions  in 
1899,  94  millions  in  1898,  82  in  1897,  and  71^ 
millions  in  1896.  In  1899  planks,  deals,  and  battens 
together  produced  7  million  marks  more  than  in  1898, 
planks  and  deals  producing  16  millions  against  12  in 
1898,  and  battens  32  millions  against  29.  Boards 
produced  31  million  marks  against  33  millions  in 
1898.  It  is  only  in  a  slight  degree  that  the  increase 
of  the  past  few  years  is  due  to  the  increased  prices 
obtained.  In  1876  the  total  export  of  wood 
was  50  millions,  against  12^  millions  in  1866,  less 
than  5  millions  in  1856,  less  than  4  millions  in 
1846,  and  only  a  little  more  than  2  millions  in 
1836;  so  recent  is  the  development  of  this  wealth. 
We  have  referred  to  pulp,  cellulose,  and  paper,  the 
value  of  which  in  1899  was  not  much  less  than 
18  million  marks.  In  1876  it  was  only  3I 
millions,  in  addition  to  if  million  marks'  worth  of 
wall-paper ;  at  that  time,  before  tariff  alterations,  a  great 
article  of  export  to  Russia.  We  have  referred  also 
to  the  diminution  in  the  manufacture  of  tar ;  and  now 
willow-bark,  too,  which  produced  i^  million  marks  in 
1876,  has  ceased  to  be  exported  to  any  great  extent, 
most  of  it  being  used  in  the  country.  Cattle  are 
exported  somewhat  less :  only  in  special  years  have  oats 
showed  a  considerable  export  value  ;  fish  produced  about 
3  million  marks  in  1899,  but  this  was  no  increase  on 
former  amounts.  In  addition  to  wood,  including  pulp 
and  paper,  it  is  now,  as  Ave  have  said,  butter  which  is 
the  largest  contribution  of  agricultural  industry  to  the 
export  trade,  and  which  produces  the  largest  amount. 
In  1897  this  sum  was  30  million  marks  for  about 
14,500  tons;  a  steady  increase  from  the  7000  tons  of 


156  FINLAND 

the  period  1889—91.  The  small  export  overland  to 
St.  Petersburg  is  not  included  in  this  figure.  The 
total  export  in  1884  was  only  4000  tons,  4500  tons  in 
1868,  and  only  500  tons  in  1852  and  1856,  the  first 
and  last  years  of  the  Crimean  War.  In  1894  it  was 
13,300  tons,  the  value  being  24^  million  marks.  We 
have  already  mentioned  how,  in  spite  of  a  larger  pro- 
duction, the  amount  of  the  export  decreased  in  1898 
to  12,500  tons  and  27  million  marks,  and  in  1899  ;to 
10,000  tons  and  23^  million  marks,  on  account  of  the 
increasing  wealth  of  the  people  and  a  larger  home 
consumption.  Also  the  contribution  of  Finnish  manu- 
factures to  a  larger  general  export  has  been  mentioned, 
as  well  as  their  less  favourable  points,  and  in  particular 
their  connection  with  the  Kussian  import  tariff.  In 
addition  to  the  goods  mentioned,  the  tariff  also 
favoured  hides,  which  were  exported  to  the  value  of 
4  million  marks  (3  million  of  which  was  for  tanned 
hides) ;  cotton  and  linen  in  piece-goods  to  the  value 
of  6  millions;  yarn  and  thread  2|  millions;  metals 
and  machinery  5  millions ;  and  finally  stone  and  stone 
articles  to  the  value  of  4  million  marks.  The  export 
of  ships  ought  to  be  especially  mentioned;  in  1899 
it  had  risen  to  a  value  of  5^^  million  marks,  of  which 
the  export  to  Russia,  mainly  steamers,  was  worth 
4f  millions.  The  whole  body  of  exports,  however, 
depends  and  will  continue  to  depend  on  the  progress 
of  forest  exploitation  and  agriculture. 

Notwithstanding  the  increased  production  of  grain, 
this  and  flour  are  the  two  articles  of  the  import  which 
have  increased  most,  and  it  is  evident  that  this  large 
increase  is  by  no  means  due  to  isolated  bad  harvests. 
In  1899  the  import  reached  291,000  tons  of  the 
value  of  59  million  marks,  against  194,000  tons  and 
44    million   marks   in    1898;   200,000   tons   and   41 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      157 

million  marks  in  1897;  190,000  tons  and  29  million 
marks  in  1896,  and  for  instance  85,000  tons  and  15 
million  marks  in  1888,69,000  tons  and  13  million 
marks  in  1887;  and  77,000  tons  and  21  million 
marks  in  1886.  Rye  and  rye-flour  have  especially 
increased;  rye  to  78,000  tons  and  11  million  marks 
in  1899,  against  only  37,000  tons  in  1898,  30,000 
tons  in  1897,  and  between  20,000  and  21,000  tons  in 
1895  and  1896;  rjT-e-flour  to  145,000  tons  and  23 
million  marks  in  1899,  against  only  95,000  tons  in 
1898,  and  about  the  same  amount  in  former  years. 
The  amount  of  imported  rye  has  in  latter  years  been 
four  times  as  much  per  head  as  thii-ty  years  ago,  in 
1 866-6 8(3.79  kilos  per  head).  The  import  of  wheaten- 
flour  has  increased  considerably,  and  the  increase  has 
continued  into  the  year  1900,  the  amount  per  head 
now  being  five  times  as  much  as  in  1866—68,  when 
it  was  only  3.56  kilos.  Even  oats,  which  a  few  years 
ago,  in  1896,  could  be  exported  to  the  value  of  7  mil- 
lion marks,  are  at  present  imported  in  considerable 
quantities — a  proof  that  the  cattle  are  being  better 
fed.  Maize  was  imported  to  the  extent  of  about 
10,000  tons,  and  the  value  of  about  li  million  marks, 
notwithstanding  the  duty  on  its  import  from  any 
other  country  than  Russia ;  against  8000  tons  in 
1898,  4000  tons  in  the  two  former  years,  and  only 
1500  tons  in  1891.  In  1899  about  gl  million 
marks'  worth  of  animal  produce  was  hnported, 
against  less  than  7  millions  in  1898,  less  than  5^ 
in  1897,  and  4^  millions  in  1896.  The  import  of 
meat  and  pork,  partly  American — notwithstanding  the 
prohibition  to  import  American  pork  without  special 
permission — was  of  the  value  of  over  7  million  marks 
in  1899,  against  less  than  5  millions  in  1898,  and 
less     than     4    millions    in     1897.       The    import    of 


158  FINLAND 

meat  and  pork  was  already  in  1898  1.28  kilo  per 
head,  as  against  .06  in  1866-68.  The  import  of 
eggs  in  1899  was  25  millions,  and  the  value  i|  million 
marks;  in  1898  19  million  eggs  were  imported,  and 
in  1897,  18  millions.  The  import  of  apples  in  1899 
was  of  the  value  of  1 1  million  marks ;  but  there  was 
a  larger  import  of  other  fruits.  We  have  spoken  too 
about  the  greatly  increased  consumption  of  sugar,,  of 
which  27,000  tons  were  used  in  1899,  against  25,000 
in  189S,  21,000  in  1897,  18,000  in  1896,  and  16,000 
tons  or  less  in  1895  and  1894;  the  weight  being 
reckoned  in  refined  sugar.  In  1886  the  amount 
imported  was  under  10,000  tons  of  the  value  of 
about  5  million  marks ;  but  in  early  years,  for 
purposes  of  comparison,  one  million  marks  should  be 
added  for  the  confectionery  which  up  to  1896  was 
imported  from  Russia,  but  which  is  now  manufactured 
in  the  country  as  a  result  of  the  duty  which  has  been 
imposed.  The  import  of  sugar  was  in  1898  9.43  kilos 
per  head,  or  nearly  five  times  as  much  as  thirty  years 
ago  (2.04),  Coffee  was  imported  in  1898  to  the 
amount  of  8,400  tons  ;  in  1 899  to  the  amount  of  8,100 
tons,  against  only  6,000  tons  in  the  period  1894-96, 
and  5,000  tons  in  1893.  The  value  in  1896  was  more 
than  13  million  marks,  a  figure  due  to  exceptionally 
high  prices,  and  5^  million  marks  in  1886.  The 
import  in  1898  represents  a  consumption  of  3.20  kilos 
per  head,  or  three  times  as  much  as  in  1866-68 
( 1 .  1 1 ).  Tobacco  increased,  as  already  mentioned,  to 
4  million  marks  in  1899,  against  2  millions  in  1886. 
If  we  also  here  compare  the  figures  of  1898  with 
those  of  thirty  years  earlier,  the  period  of  1866-68, 
we  find  an  increase  in  consumption  of  from  0.42 
to  5.74.  Petroleum  rose  to  19,500  tons  with  a 
value  of  2f  million  marks  in    1899,  against    17,500 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      159 

tons  in  1898,  16,400  tons  in  1897,  15,000  in  1896, 
13,000  in  1895,  7,000  in  1888,  and  not  much 
over  5,000  tons  in  1886,  In  1898  it  was  6.63 
kilos  per  head  against  0.8  thirty  years  earlier.  All 
these  figures  tell  an  eloquent  tale  of  the  progress 
and  well-being  of  the  people.  Equally  worth  mention- 
ing is  the  import  of  fodder,  which  in  1899  included 
30,000  tons  of  wheat-bran,  3,000  of  rye-bran,  and 
5,000  of  oil-cake,  with  a  total  value  of  4  million 
marks.  Like  the  import  of  maize,  this  import  of 
fodder  is  trifling  compared  to  other  countries,  Denmark, 
for  instance  ;  but  it  is  a  new  and  noteworthy  item  in 
the  Finnish  imports.  Phosphates  increased  to  about 
14,500  tons  in  1899,  against  less  than  11,000  in 
1898,  and  7,750  tons  in  1897.  The  import  of  coal 
in  1899  was  255,000  tons,  of  a  value  of  5  million 
marks,  against  only  164,000  tons  with  a  value  of 
less  than  3  million  marks  in  1898,  176,000  tons  in 
1897,  95,000  in  1896,  74,000  in  1895,  and  only 
43,000  tons  with  a  value  of  less  than  a  million  marks 
in  1 886.  Compared  with  thirty  j^ears  earlier  it  was 
in  1898  more  than  four  times  as  much  (62.35  kilos  per 
head  against  15.21).  Of  cement,  26,000  tons  were 
imported  in  1899,  against  17,000  in  1897,  and  only 
8,000  in  1895.  Several  other  articles  show  figures 
of  equal  interest,  as,  for  instance,  the  increased  amount 
of  dyeing  material.  Metals  were  imported  in  1899 
and  1898  to  the  value  of  23  million  marks  against  16 
millions  in  1897,  and  13  in  1896;  and  machinery 
(including  lately  some  electric  machines)  to  the  value 
of  18  million  marks  in  1899,  19  niiUions  in  1898, 
12  millions  in  1897,  and  9  millions  in  1896.  The 
decrease  of  machinery  by  one  miUion  marks  in  1899 
against  an  increase  of  7  millions  in  1898  was  largely 
due  to  a  smaller  import  of  locomotives,  which  are  nowa- 


i6o  FINLAND 

days  also  manufactured  in  the  country.     The  import 
of  dairy-machines  and  vessels   decreased  from   about 
§   to   ^    of   a    million,  because   in    1899  fewer   large 
creameries    were   erected.       Ships    were    imported   in 
1899    to    the    value   of   over    7^   million    marks,    4I 
millions  of  this  being  for  steamers,  against  7  millions 
in    1898,    2^    in     1897,    and    3     millions    in    1896. 
Among  raw  material  imported  we  find  such  articles 
as   tlax   to   the  value   of    i   million   marks,    cotton  6 
millions,  wool   2   millions,  and  some  yarn  and  thread. 
Tanning  materials  amounted  to   5,000  tons  in  1899, 
against   2,500   in   the   two   preceding  years.     An   in- 
teresting import  is  that  of  books,  mostly,  of  course, 
Swedish,  the  value  of  which  in  1899  was    if  million 
marks  and  i-^-  million  in  the  two  preceding  years.     Of 
more  doubtful  meaning   is   what   we   learn  from   the 
import  figures   of  piece-goods  in  cotton,  wool,   linen, 
and   knitted   goods.      The  import    reached   the    con- 
siderable   figures  of   19    millions    in    1898,    and    18 
millions    in     1897,    against    14^    millions    in    1896; 
which,   of  course,  indicates   the    progress   of  popular 
wealth.     In    1899   it   was   again  less,  being  only    14 
millions ;  cotton  goods  representing  4  million  marks, 
against  the  6  millions   of   1898,  and  woollens  repre- 
senting  6   millions   instead   of   9.     This  difference   is 
undoubtedly  due  to  the  establishment  of  mills  in  the 
country  itself,   which  had  now  begun  to  bring  their 
wares    into     the    home-market ;    but    on    account    of 
the  protective  tariff  this  is  a   progress  of  more  than 
doubtful  utility  to  the  country. 

Trade  with  various  countries  presents  several  points 
of  interest  concerning  the  economic  situation  and  calls 
for  consideration,  especially  as  regards  the  influence 
exercised  by  the  tariff  relations  with  Russia.  The 
trade  with  Russia  is,  of  course,  the  largest,  and  would 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      i6i 

probably  be  so  even  if  a  special  tariff  did  not  contribute 
to  such  a  result.  In  1899  the  commerce  amounted  to 
140  million  marks,  of  which  85  millions  were  repre- 
sented by  import  and  barely  5  5  by  export.  In  1898 
the  total  was  132  millions,  8  2  import  and  5  i  export ; 
in  1897,  120  millions,  72  import,  48  export;  in  1896, 
103  millions,  55  import,  48  export.  When  more  re- 
ciprocity was  introduced  in  1859,  trade  increased  at 
once;  the  export  to  Russia  in  186 1-3  was  three  times 
what  it  had  been  in  the  previous  decade.  In  the 
years  1867-9  ^^^  trade  with  Russia  was  52  per  cent, 
of  the  whole  commerce  with  other  countries.  As  the 
rouble  went  down  in  value,  particularly,  for  instance, 
during  the  war  with  Turkey  in  1877,  this  for  the 
moment  caused  a  larger  export  from  Russia  to  Finland 
and  less  import  from  Finland  to  Russia ;  since,  when 
the  value  of  money  sinks,  prices  in  the  country  do  not 
at  once  follow  those  of  international  trade,  whose 
prices  are  expressed  in  the  money  of  the  world.  In 
the  seventies  commerce  increased  with  other  countries, 
without,  however,  diminishing  that  with  Russia.  The 
above  figures  show  that  it  is  especially  the  imports 
from  Russia  which  have  increased  of  late.  The  larger 
part  of  this  trade  is  a  natural  enough  consequence  of 
the  neighbouring  position  of  the  two  countries  and  the 
difference  in  their  productions.  It  is  due  to  no  tariff- 
favour  that  an  import  takes  place  from  Russia  of  37 
million  marks'  worth  of  grain,  rye  i  58,000  tons,  worth 
24  million  marks  (including  rye-flour  90,000  tons  with 
a  value  of  14^  million  marks,  and  unground  rye,  68,500 
tons  with  a  value  of  9^  million  marks),  23,000  tons  of 
wheat-flour  with  a  value  of  over  7  million  marks,  6000 
tons  of  barley  with  a  value  of  i  million  marks,  3000 
tons  of  malt  at  a  value  of  over  500,000  marks, 
1 1,000  tons  of  oats  with  a  value  of  il  million  marks, 

L 


1 62  FINLAND 

arid  some  buck-wheat  and  millet  with  a  value  of  one 
million  marks.  A  more  doubtful  matter  is  the  import 
of  6700  tons  of  maize  from  Kussia,  since  it  is  free 
of  duty,  while  maize  from  other  countries  pays  duty. 
The  same  is  the  case  with  pork,  salted  or  otherwise 
preserved,  and  apples  which  are  imported  from  Russia 
to  the  value  of  about  a  million  marks.  Then  there  is 
the  relatively  valuable  import  already  mentioned  of 
4  million  marks'  worth  of  bran  and  oil  cakes,  of  which 
the  greater  part  comes  from  Russia  ;  there  is  also  meat 
and  other  animal  produce,  and  25  million  eggs  with  a 
value  of  i\  million  marks.  Also  we  have  one  million 
marks'  worth  of  potato-meal,  onions,  and  other  vege- 
tables ;  flax-seed  to  the  value  of  one  million  marks ; 
crushed  bone  half  a  million  marks,  and  hide  worth 
2  million  marks.  The  advantage  for  Finland  is 
doubtful  in  the  case  of  those  goods  which  are  im- 
ported duty-free  from  Russia,  alone  of  all  countries ; 
such  as  those  mentioned  above  as  well  as  petroleum 
and  other  oils  valued  at  3  million  marks ;  ready- 
made  clothing  valued  at  about  2  million  marks ;  cotton 
piece-goods  to  the  value  of  3  million  marks ;  woollens 
to  the  value  of  i|  million  marks,  some  linen  goods, 
and  again  some  yarn,  and  thread  valued  at  i|  million 
marks ;  shoes  to  the  value  of  one  million  marks ;  and 
finally  2i  million  marks'  worth  of  rubber  goods, 
especially  rubber  shoes,  which  are  much  used  in  this 
northern  climate.  We  have  also  those  articles  on 
which  some  duty  is  paid,  but  less  duty  than  when  they 
are  imported  from  other  countries,  such  as  24,000 
tons  of  sugar  of  the  value  of  8  million  marks  ;  half  the 
Finnish  import  of  tobacco  ;  and  the  wines  and  liqueurs 
which  are,  still  less  than  tobacco,  a  cheap  product  in 
Russia.  On  the  other  hand,  the  export  of  Finland  to 
Russia  consists  partly  of  articles  whose  import  would 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHEEIES      163 

be  natural  from  a  neighbouring  country,  such  as  butter 
and  milk,  cattle  and  fish  to  St.  Petersburg,  firewood 
to  the  value  of  3  million  marks,  hides  to  the  value 
of  3  million  marks,  wooden  articles,  and  so  on.  But 
here  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  tariff  advantagre, 
though  by  no  means  so  considerable  as  in  the  case  of 
the  imports  from  Russia  to  Finland,  is  important ;  it 
favours  even  such  articles  as  pulp,  cellulose  and  paper, 
of  which  14  million  out  of  17I  million  marks'  worth 
goes  to  Russia,  as  well  as  other  goods,  such  as 
machinery,  metal  ware,  yarn,  thread,  piece-goods,  glass, 
earthenware  and  china,  of  which  we  spoke  when  dis- 
cussing the  export  of  these  articles. 

England  holds  first  place  among  the  countries 
receiving  exports  from  Finland ;  even  more  decidedly 
than  is  shown  by  the  Custom-house  statistics,  because 
some  exports  to  England  pass  over  other  countries 
near  Finland.  According  to  these  statistics,  however, 
the  total  export  to  England  in  1899  was  of  the  value 
of  5  5  million  marks,  included  in  this  amount  being 
I  2  million  marks'  worth  of  butter,  and  a  third  of  the 
great  export  of  wood.  Comprised  in  this  latter  export 
are  battens  to  the  value  of  lyh  million  marks,  and 
planks  and  deals  to  the  value  of  7^  millions,  besides 
forms  of  wood  exported  to  England  in  larger  quantity 
than  to  any  other  country,  such  as  boards  to  the  value 
of  7  millions,  pit-props  to  the  value  of  2^  millions, 
bobbins  and  squares  for  bobbins  to  the  value  of  one 
million,  paper  to  the  value  of  3f  millions,  and  paste- 
board to  the  value  of  one  million.  Other  exports  in- 
clude oats  to  the  value  of  one  million  marks,  besides 
tar  and  some  other  articles.  On  the  other  hand, 
England  imports  into  Finland  machinery  and  other 
ironware  to  the  value  of  5]  million  marks,  steamers 
among  which   the  ships  above   700   tons  are  of  the 


1 64  FINLAND 

value  of  4f  million  marks,  yarn,  cheap  linen  and  mats 
worth  3^  millions,  and  tallow  to  the  value  of  one 
milhon  marks.  Wheat-flour  and  meat  come,  of  course, 
from  other  countries,  especially  the  United  States,  only 
passing  through  England;  which  is  also  the  case  with 
cotton  to  the  value  of  3^  million  marks,  and  one 
million  marks'  worth  of  wool.  The  total  import  from 
England  in  1899  was  of  the  value  of  about  41  million 
marks. 

In  the  commerce  between  Finland  and  Germany, 
on  the  contrary,  the  imports  are  the  greater,  repre- 
senting 8ii  million  marks  against  16^  million  export. 
The  import  in  1899  was  6\  million  marks  larger  than 
in  1898,  when,  like  the  import  from  England,  it  was 
again  9  million  marks  higher  than  in  1897,  and  again 
in  that  year  7  milhon  marks  higher  than  in  1896. 
It  was  largely  represented  by  German  merchandise, 
such  as  rye  and  rye-flour,  to  the  value  of  10  million 
marks,  woollens  3  milhons,  clothes  one  million,  hops 
half  a  million,  seeds  one  milUon,  sugar  one  million, 
plums  one-third  of  a  million,  drugs  one-third  of  a 
million,  cement  half  a  milUon,  besides  iron,  ironware, 
and  bicycles,  particularly  electric  machines,  and  some 
of  the  hides  imported  into  Finland.  As  an  inter- 
mediary Germany  imports  many  other  articles,  includ- 
ing coffee  to  the  value  of  6h  milhon  marks,  and,  also 
as  an  intermediary,  most  of  the  tobacco  and  wine  sent 
from  there  to  Finland,  which  last  item  is  of  the  value 
of  about  one  milhon  marks.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
exports  to  Germany  include  boards  worth  one-third  of 
a  million  marks,  battens  2f  millions,  and  pasteboard 
worth  one  million  marks.  Trade  with  Germany  has 
sufiered  by  the  recent  protective  duties,  as,  for  instance, 
the  export  of  wood  from  Finland  to  Germany.  Exports 
from    Germany   into    Finland   were    affected    by    the 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      165 

restrictive  measures  which  the  government  in  St. 
Petersburg  ordered  to  be  introduced  into  Finland,  too, 
in  August  1893  ;  but  part  of  these  were  only  in  force 
till  the  Commercial  Treaty  of  1894  was  signed.  As 
a  result,  commerce  between  Finland  and  Germany 
decreased  between  1892  and  1893  from  50^  to  40 
million  marks,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  commerce 
with  Denmark,  for  instance,  increased  from  15^  to  20 
million  marks. 

Denmark  has  a  proportionately  considerable  com- 
merce with  Finland,  the  total  imports  from  Finland 
being  1 5  million  marks,  including  4  million  marks' 
worth  of  boards  and  8|-  millions  of  butter,  the  latter 
partly  en  roiUe  to  England.  The  exports  to  Finland 
are  of  the  value  of  1 1 1  millions,  including  machines, 
iron  plates,  and  other  metal-ware,  cement,  meat,  a 
million  marks'  worth  of  cotton,  textile  goods,  and 
Cognac,  in  most  of  which  articles,  however,  it  acts 
as  intermediary. 

Sweden  exports  to  Finland  13!^  million  marks' 
worth  of  iron,  steel,  ironware  (including  agricultural 
and  electric  machines),  cement,  bricks,  grain,  books, 
pictures,  and  a  great  number  of  other  articles.  Its 
imports  from  Finland,  on  the  other  hand,  amount 
only  to  a  value  of  7  million  marks,  among  which  are 
butter  to  the  value  of  i  h  million  ;  oats,  half  a  million ; 
some  salmon ;  heavy  timber  from  the  State  forests  of 
Finland  to  the  value  of  i^  million,  which  is  imported 
by  the  Swedish  mill-owners ;  firewood  to  the  value 
of  \  million  marks ;  and  other  details.  Some  ten- 
dency to  a  decrease  in  this  trade  has  been  visible 
since  the  recent  development  of  more  direct  com- 
munication between  other  countries  and  Finland, 
especially  in  regard  to  the  butter-trade  with  England. 
Also   the   late  protective  tariffs   in  Sweden  have  been 


1 66  FINLAND 

a  hindrance  to  trade,  as  was  the  high  protective 
tariff  of  1834,  which  contributed  largely  to  reduce  the 
once  large  trade  between  the  two  countries.  There 
is  not  any  considerable  commerce  with  Norway;  on 
the  side  of  Finland  it  consists  mainly  in  the  pur- 
chase of  herrings,  the  value  of  which  import  in  1899 
was  about  half  a  million  marks. 

The  export  trade  to  France  in  1899  was  of  the  value 
of  14  million  marks,  including  battens  to  the  value  of 
4  millions,  boards  5^  millions,  planks  and  deals  i^ 
millions,  and  wood  for  pulp  i^  millions,  the  latter 
being  carried  to  France,  instead  of  being  changed 
into  pulp  or  cellulose  in  Finland,  on  account  of  the 
French  duty.  It  is  noticeable  that  Finland  purchases  i  i 
million  marks'  worth  of  Cognac  and  only  half  a  million 
marks'  worth  of  wine,  half  of  the  wine  being  taken 
through  Germany.  There  is  an  import  of  wheat- meal 
to  the  value  of  half  a  million  marks;  and  the  total 
imports  were  worth  4^  millions. 

Spain  buys  planks  and  deals  to  the  value  of 
4  million  marks,  battens  to  the  value  of  2  million, 
boards  one  million ;  in  all  an  import  worth  7|  millions  ; 
and  she  exports  about  half  this  value  to  Finland, 
the  export  including  salt,  wine,  raisins,  and  some 
other  articles.  During  the  war  with  the  United  States 
in  1898,  the  Spanish  import  of  wood  decreased  by 
nearly  2  millions,  but  has  now  again  increased. 

The  commerce  with  Holland  consists  mainly  of 
the  sale  of  wood  to  Holland,  especially  boards  and 
battens,  the  total  export  from  Finland  being  worth 
8  million  marks.  The  commerce  with  Belgium  is 
more  equally  divided,  a  great  number  of  articles 
being  imported  to  Finland  from  Antwerp,  as  for  instance 
rice,  railway- waggons,  and  rope.  The  total  export  from 
Belgium  was  of  the  value  of  about  5  h  million  marks ; 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      167 

while  Belgium  purchases  to  the^rvalue  of  7  millions, 
including  battens  to  the  value  of  2^  millions,  and 
nearly  one  million  marks'  worth  of  boards  and  other 
forms  of  wood. 

From  the  United  States  Finland  only  purchases 
cotton  to  the  value  of  500,000  marks.  The  direct 
commerce  has  not  developed  to  any  great  extent. 

As  a  remarkable  example  of  commercial  progress 
we  will  mention  the  sale  of  butter.  In  1887  Sweden 
took  the  greater  part,  3^  million  kilos,  Russia  took 
2 1  million,  Germany  three-quarters  of  a  million, 
Denmark  one-third  of  a  million  kilos,  and  England 
still  less.  In  1894  Denmark  was  the  chief  purchaser 
with  7|  million  kilos,  England  next  with  3I  millions, 
Russia  had  decreased  her  import  to  i  ^  million,  and 
Sweden  and  Germany  theirs  to  one-third  of  a  milUon 
each.  In  1899  England,  really  the  chief  consumer, 
was  at  the  head  with  5^  millions;  Denmark,  the 
great  dealer  in  butter,  being  next  with  3f  milhons; 
Sweden  bought  half  a  million,  Russia  one-thu-d  of 
a  million,  and  Germany  one-sixth  of  a  million  kilos. 
The  total  export  in  1897  showed  an  increase  of  4^ 
million  kilos,  it  being  15I  millions  instead  of  11,  of 
which  the  English  share  of  the  increase  was  2h  million 
and  the  Danish  2  million  kilos. 

It  is  the  import  duty  which  is  the  great  enemy  of 
commerce,  especially  the  protective  duty  which  hinders 
the  profitable  distribution  of  labour  between  various 
countries ;  and  we  may  notice  that  disturbing  effects 
are  much  less  a  consequence  of  duties  imposed  on 
articles  which  cannot  be  produced  in  the  country 
itself,  where  the  whole  increased  value  goes  to  benefit 
the  treasury,  and  where  at  the  utmost  the  consump- 
tion is  deranged,  than  of  these  protective  duties.  Also 
the  Finnish  tariff  has  been  reformed,  although  much 


1 68  FINLAND 

less  than  most  of  the  other  departments  of  pubhc  hfe. 
In  speaking  of  this  question,  we  must  first  of  all  recall 
the  peculiar  position  of  this  tax  in  the  Finnish  consti- 
tution. Here  the  system  still  prevails  which  from 
1772  to  1809  was  found  in  Sweden,  by  which  the 
monarch  could,  without  the  co-operation  of  the 
Estates,  regulate  the  customs  tariff.  It  is  probable 
that,  if  the  Estates  had  had  the  same  influence  here 
as  in  other  matters,  they  would  have  introduced  the 
more  liberal  principles  then  prevailing.  It  must,  how- 
ever, be  acknowledged  that  the  Government,  in  the 
tariff  of  1869,  the  main  points  of  which  are  still  in 
existence,  has  undertaken  a  comparatively  consider- 
able reform.  The  tariff  certainly  gives  wide  protection 
to  most  of  the  manufactured  articles,  but  imposes  little 
or  no  duty  on  the  raw  material  which  is  so  important 
for  the  manufacturing  and  other  industries,  or  on 
articles  which  are  necessaries  of  life.  Commerce  also 
progressed  considerably  after  the  reduction  of  this 
tariff.  From  a  financial  point  of  view  nothing  now 
hinders  the  entire  abolition  of  tariff  protection ; 
since  in  Finland,  as  elsewhere,  only  duties  which  are 
not  essentially  protective,  such  as  those  on  sugar, 
coffee,  tea,  tobacco,  alcoholic  drinks,  together  with  the 
excise  duties  on  brannvin  and  beer,  produce  large 
amounts.  The  greatest  difficulty  in  this  respect  is 
caused  by  the  relations  of  Finland  with  Russia. 
Certain  diminutions  of  the  Finnish  import  duty  would 
occasion  new  restrictions  in  the  commerce  with  Russia. 
This  certainly  ought  not  to  decide  a  question  which  is 
of  so  vital  an  importance  to  the  whole  development 
of  the  country. 

A  treaty  made  between  Russia  and  Spain  in  1888, 
in  which  Finland  shared,  was  a  step  in  the  direction  of 
greater  liberty.     Spain  obtained  facilities  in  Finland 


COMMERCE.  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      169 

for  the  import  of  its  salt  (with  a  duty  of  25  penni  per 
100  kilos,  against  50  for  other  countries),  for  its  wine, 
oil,  &c.,  and  again  made  concessions  about  the  import 
of  wood,  tar,  &c.,  from  Finland.  But  the  most  im- 
portant of  these  concessions  were  also  given  to  other 
countries  which  gave  Finland  the  most  favourable 
tariff,  as,  for  instance,  France,  Italy,  and  Portugal. 
Some  of  Russia's  treaties  with  other  countries  might 
also  be  quoted  as  profitable  for  Finland. 

During  the  first  half  century  of  Finland's  union  with 
Russia,  the  customs  duties  were  arranged  on  varying 
bases.  For  a  short  time  there  was  a  certain  amount 
of  reciprocity,  but  early  in  the  twenties  this  was 
changed  in  the  one-sided  interest  of  Russia.  Accord- 
ing to  the  decree  of  1835,  not  only  could  Russian 
merchandise  be  imported  free  of  duty  into  Finland, 
except  brannvin,  which  was  forbidden  to  be  imported, 
but  foreign  wares  could  also  be  imported  without  pay- 
ing any  duty  whatever  by  land  or  by  ship  across  Lake 
Ladoga.  On  the  other  hand,  free  import  to  Russia 
was  only  allowed  to  Finnish  merchandise  indicated  in 
particular  lists ;  all  the  rest  had  to  pay  the  same 
duties  as  foreign  imports.  This  system  was  both 
economically  and  financially  a  great  loss  to  Finland. 
However,  in  the  decree  of  1859,  Alexander  II.  de- 
clared that  he  found  it  "  necessary  to  introduce  greater 
reciprocity  in  the  commercial  relations  between  Russia 
and  Finland."  This  decree  increased,  therefore,  the 
number  of  articles  which  could  be  introduced  free  of 
duty  into  Russia,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  imposed 
financial  duties  on  the  import  of  certain  Russian 
articles  into  Finland.  But  in  1885,  after  Finland's 
tariff  had  been  reformed  in  a  liberal  manner  in  1869, 
and  Russia's  tariff,  on  the  contrary,  had  been  increased 
in  the  beginning  of  the  eighties,  the  decree  of  1859 


170  FINLAND 

was  modified  so  that  several  important  manufactured 
products  imported  from  Finland,  when  these  consisted 
of  goods  also  made  in  Russia,  had  to  pay  a  duty 
equivalent  to  the  difference  in  duties  on  raw  material, 
half-finished  products  and  parts  of  machinery,  the 
Finnish  duty  on  such  raw  material  from  foreign 
countries  beins^  lower  than  the  Russian.  In  fact,  how- 
ever,  the  duty  now  imposed  was  somewhat  higher  than 
could  be  counterbalanced  by  these  advantages.  For 
certain  Finnish  articles  a  maximum  import  for  goods 
under  this  low  duty,  or  duty  free,  was  fixed,  a  limita- 
tion not  unknown  in  the  decree  of  1869,  but  now 
again  enlarged.  The  principle  was  in  this  manner 
laid  down  of  the  protection  of  Russian  manufactures 
against  Finnish  competition.  Later,  in  January  1890, 
a  committee  was  nominated  to  discuss  tariff  unity 
with  Russia,  but  the  difficulty  of  executing  the 
proposals  now  formulated  for  this  purpose  caused 
the  discussion  to  drift  on  without  any  result.  After 
deliberations  by  fresh  committees  a  new  ordinance 
was  published,  which  had  been  proposed  by  the 
Russian  Minister  of  Finance  and  approved  by  the 
Finnish  Senate  in  May  1897,  which  limited  still 
more  the  free  import  from  Finland  to  Russia,  and 
increased  the  differential  duties,  increasing,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  former  maximum  import  in  the  case  of  some 
articles.  In  Finland  it  was  now  believed  that  the 
matter  was  finally  settled,  especially  as  the  clause  in 
the  treaty  of  1894  with  Germany,  according  to  which 
the  import  duty  in  Finland  could  have  been  increased 
by  50  per  cent,  of  the  difference  between  the  Finnish 
and  Russian  tariff,  was  not  utilised.  In  1893  the 
Finnish  Senate  had  been  ordered  to  introduce  measures 
for  the  increase  of  the  Finnish  tariff  up  to  the  figures 
of  the  Russian,  but  it  had  recommended  the  abandon- 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      171 

ment  of  this  plan,  and  had  not  received  any  further  com- 
munication. This  fact,  too,  contributed  to  the  belief 
that  a  final  arrangement  had  been  made.  Nevertheless, 
in  July  1900  the  Senate  received  a  new  communica- 
tion from  the  Governor- General  to  the  effect  that  the 
Emperor  had  decided  in  the  beginning  of  May  to  order 
a  reconsideration  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Finnish 
tariff  could  be  identified  with  that  of  the  empire,  and 
free  trade  between  the  countries  perhaps  be  estab- 
lished; and  that  for  this  purpose  a  new  committee 
would  be  nominated  composed  of  Russian  authorities 
as  well  as  of  some  Finnish  delegates.  It  was  the 
desire  of  the  Russian  Minister  of  Finance  that  the 
Finnish  tariff  should  be  brought  up  to  the  Russian 
level  before  the  end  of  1903,  when  new  treaties  with 
several  Powers  would  be  under  discussion,  and  it  would 
presumably  be  useful  to  raise  the  duties  to  a  high 
amount,  on  which  concessions  might  be  given.  We 
see  here  another  proof  of  the  difiiculties  of  treaties 
when  used  as  a  means  of  obtaining  larger  liberty.  We 
see  also  a  remarkable  expression  of  the  small  regard 
which  the  Russians  have  for  the  interests  of  Finland,  and 
also  how  little  they  care  for  the  stability  of  the  tariff, 
and  the  whole  economical  situation  which  depends  on  it. 
The  present  rule  is  that  all  Russian  merchandise 
can  be  introduced  free  into  Finland,  with  the  exception 
of  briinnvin,  which  is  forbidden,  and  of  sugar,  tobacco, 
wine,  liqueurs,  and  margarine,  which  pay  much  smaller 
duties  when  cominsf  into  Finland  from  Russia  than 
the  same  articles  from  other  countries ;  so  much  less, 
indeed,  that  already  the  duties  on  sugar  now  imported 
from  Russia  instead  of  from  other  countries  represents 
yearly  a  loss  of  several  millions.  On  the  other  hand, 
Finland  is  only  allowed  to  export  to  Russia  certain 
products   of  agriculture   and   other   industries   of  the 


172  FINLAND 

same  character.  Some  wares  must  on  import  into 
Russia  be  accompanied  by  certificates  showing  that 
they  originate  from  Finland.  Other  articles  mentioned 
when  speaking  of  the  production  of  iron  and  iron 
wares,  copper  and  copper  wares,  earthenware  and  glass, 
textile,  spun  and  woven  goods,  as  well  as  paper,  pulp, 
and  cellulose,  are  imported  under  somewhat  lower 
duties,  but  in  the  case  of  most  of  these  articles  only 
a  very  limited  import  is  allowed.  The  manufacturing 
industries  governed  by  these  rules  are  those  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  Finland.  Other  manufactured 
articles  pay  the  same  duty  as  those  imported  from 
other  countries.  On  the  side  of  Russia  it  is  an 
accepted  principle  that  the  Finnish  manufactures  must 
not  be  favoured  at  the  cost  of  the  Russians,  and  that 
the  duties  which  they  pay  shall  be  equivalent  to  the 
advantage  gained  by  their  cheaper  and  partly  free 
import  of  raw  material.  This  is  right.  But  it  is  a 
very  curious  development  of  this  principle  when  the 
Russian  Government  also  demands  that  the  Finlanders 
shall  pay  for  their  advantages  in  water-power  and  wood, 
and  that  they  shall  import  only  certain  quantities  of 
their  products.  This  is  to  regard  Finland  from  an 
economic  and  not  only  from  a  financial  point  of  view 
as  a  foreign  country.  Protection  is  demanded  and 
given  by  such  a  measure  against  the  simple  use  of  the 
natural  productive  advantages  of  a  country.  The 
present  arrangement  is  a  kind  of  treaty  between  two 
foreign  countries.  Some  of  the  concessions  under  it 
are  a  gain  for  liberty,  but  others  are  one-sided  and 
hardly  just.  The  good  and  bad  can,  of  course,  only 
be  seen  by  examining  the  details,  especially  where  the 
matter  in  question  is  the  interest  of  one  single  country, 
which  is  not  necessarily  the  same  as  what  is  for  the 
general  good. 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      173 

While  a  tariff  union  with  Russia  under  the  present 
protective  and  prohibitive  system  would  injure  the 
sound  natural  portion  of  Finnish  manufactures,  it  would, 
as  already  said,  be  entirely  destructive  of  commerce, 
trade,  and  navigation.  It  would  increase  the  price  of 
all  present  imports, — coal,  iron  and  other  metals, 
machines,  and  the  most  common  necessaries  of  life, 
such  as  sugar,  coffee,  and  salt.  By  destroying  the 
import  trade  it  would  also  hinder  export,  first  by 
rendering  life  and  production  more  difficult  and  costly ; 
then  by  diminishing  the  already  small  freights  which 
ships  can  take  home  to  the  country;  finally,  by  de- 
creasing the  value  of  the  means  of  payment  in  foreign 
countries — its  bills  of  exchange  on  these  countries.  If 
we  consider  its  influence  on  commerce,  that  most  useful 
aid  to  civilisation,  we  shall  understand  still  better  the 
extent  to  which  this  measure  would  be  destructive  of 
the  whole  national  development.  We  have  no  need 
to  speak  here  of  its  influence  on  the  situation  in 
Russia,  on  its  commerce,  agriculture,  and  business  in 
general.  We  have  already  spoken  of  the  effect  of  the 
high  Russian  duties  on  the  most  important  Finnish 
manufacturing  interests.  In  reality,  all  who  produce 
goods  are  consumers  by  the  necessities  of  their  fife  and 
their  industrial  activity.  It  is  calculated  that  a  simple 
fisher  family  consisting  of  four  persons,  which  is  rather 
below  the  general  number,  would  have  to  pay  eighty- 
five  marks  more  per  annum,  fifty-five  marks  fifty  penni 
as  increased  duty  on  the  salt  needed  for  forty  barrels 
of  Baltic  herrings  prepared  for  sale,  and  thirty  marks 
for  such  simple  necessities  as  coffee,  chickory,  iron,  &c. 
A  Finnish  cottier  who  keeps  four  cows  and  a  horse 
would  have  to  pay  fifty  marks  extra  for  iron,  nails, 
woollens,  coffee,  chickory,  &c.  A  common  peasant  pro- 
prietor with  forty  cows  and  five  horses  would  have  to  pay 


174  FINLAND 

fifty-four  marks  extra  for  iron  and  nails,  and  seven 
marks  twenty  penni  for  artificial  manure,  or  a  total  of 
240  marks  more.  It  is  not  certain  that  a  larger  re- 
venue would  be  obtained  for  the  Treasury;  the  moderate 
Finnish  tariff,  just  because  of  its  moderate  and  less  pro- 
tective character,  brings  in  much  more  per  head  of  the 
population  than  the  Russian  tariff — not  far  from  three 
and  a  half  times  as  much,  the  last  year's  average  being 
from  thirteen  to  fourteen  marks  per  head  in  Finland 
against  four  marks  in  Russia.  The  truth  is  that  the 
Russian  system  is  in  the  highest  degree  harmful  to 
Russia  herself,  increasing  the  price  of  such  raw  material 
as  pig  iron  by  70  per  cent.,  billets  of  iron  by  45 
per  cent.,  and  steel  by  35  per  cent ;  increasing 
enormously  the  cost  of  such  enterprises  as  the  con- 
struction of  railways  and  factories,  the  building  of 
ships,  farming,  and,  indeed,  of  all  industrial  life,  not  to 
mention  the  increased  cost  of  such  common  things  as 
salt,  coffee,  and  sugar.  In  Finland,  all  industries  and 
industrial  life  in  general  necessitate  commerce  with 
other  countries;  and  free  import  from  Russia  could 
not  replace  this.  It  is  not  only  that  most  things 
would  cost  more ;  but  many  would  be  unobtainable 
from  Russia.  It  would  not,  as  is  the  case  with  tariff 
unions  between  many  other  countries,  be  an  advance. 
It  would  be  an  enormous  set-back  to  the  whole  of 
civilisation.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Finnish  nation 
will  not  be  oblisred  to  witness  the  fulfilment  of  this 
menace. 

As  shown  by  the  figures  of  the  total  Finnish  com- 
merce with  other  countries,  the  value  of  the  import  is 
as  a  rule  much  higher  than  the  export.  Partly,  this 
difference  is  only  apparent ;  the  value  of  the  imports, 
which  are  liable  to  duty,  being  calculated  more  exactly 
than  the  exports.     Partly,  it  is  due  to  the  calculation 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      175 

of  the  value  in  both  cases  being  made  in  Finnish 
ports,  the  import  figures  being  therefore  increased  by 
the  addition  of  cost  and  profit  of  commerce  and  trans- 
port, the  export  figures  being  given  without  this.  One 
reason  for  the  existence  of  this  surplus,  in  so  far  as  it 
is  existent,  is  that  foreign  capital  is  imported  to  Fin- 
land, where  relatively  good  opportunities  exist  for  its 
productive  use,  such  as  loans  for  the  building  of  rail- 
ways, or  loans  (relatively  few  during  the  past  year  or 
two)  for  the  development  of  private  industries.  Such 
borrowed  capital  is  always  imported  in  the  form  of 
articles  necessary  to  life  and  production,  or,  what  is 
possibly  more  correct,  provokes  such  import.  The 
surplus  is  also  to  some  extent  caused  by  the  simple 
fact  that  the  Finnish  commercial  marine  takes  part  in 
the  transport  between  Finland  and  other  countries, 
and  in  general  trade  as  well.  Theodore  Wegelius 
calculates  that  out  of  the  5  7  milUons  excess  of  imports 
in  1898,  i6|  millions  can  be  thus  explained;  out  of 
the  6"]  millions  in  1899,  2o|^  millions  ;  and  out  of  73 
millions  in  1900,  2\\  millions.  He  arrived  at  this 
result  by  calculating  a  freight  profit  of  80  marks  per 
ton  on  the  tonnage  in  1898,  of  90  marks  in  1899,  and 
of  95  marks  in  1900,  deducting  10  per  cent,  of  the 
whole  amount  for  inland  shipping,  which  has  nothing 
to  do  with  foreign  commerce. 

Finland's  commercial  marine  is  not  without  im- 
portance, but  has  not  increased  much  during  the  last 
few  years.  It  consisted  at  the  end  of  1889  of  2,281 
ships,  with  a  minimum  tonnage  of  1 9  tons,  and  a  total 
tonnage  of  318,000  tons;  in  1896  of  2,132  ships  and 
313,000  tons;  in  1876  there  were  1,900  ships  and 
285,000  tons.  The  reason  of  this  dimLnished  increase 
is  that  the  marine  continues  to  consist  mainly  of  sail- 
ing ships.     It  was  composed  in  1899  of  2,020  sailing 


176  FINLAND 

ships,  with  a  tonnage  of  271,000  tons,  and  only  261 
steamers  with  a  tonnage  of  47,000  tons.  It  may 
also  be  mentioned  that  nowadays  pine  as  a  building 
material  has  been  to  some  degree  superseded  by 
oak,  which  is  not  common  in  Finland.  Part  of 
this  marine,  including  the  steamers,  consists  of  very 
small  ships  used  chiefly  between  the  inland  ports,  and 
especially  on  the  lakes.  Small  steamers,  or  launqhes, 
are  owned  here  by  most  of  the  larger  proprietors.  On 
the  sea  in  1899  there  were  1759  ships,  with  271,000 
tons;  on  Lake  Ladoga  107  ships,  with  16,000  tons,  of 
which  seven  were  steamers  with  400  tons ;  and  on  the 
Saima  Lake  415  ships  with  32,000  tons,  of  which 
seventy-two  were  steamers  with  4.000  tons.  Most  of 
the  sailing  ships  are  owned  by  men  living  on  the 
coast  outside  the  towns.  In  modem  times  numerous 
very  small  and  very  large  ships  and  fewer  middle- 
sized  ships  have  been  built.  But  on  the  whole  the 
sailing  ships  of  Finland  are  now  antiquated,  and  it 
is  an  extraordinary  commercial  chance  which  during 
recent  years  has  allowed  some  old  valueless  wooden 
ships  to  earn  during  the  year  the  whole  value  of  the 
ship.  If  Finland  desires  to  maintain  her  position  on 
the  sea  she  must  acquire  steamers.  While  on  the 
whole  shipbuilding  has  been  inconsiderable  of  late, 
relatively  more  steamers  were  built  during  the  years 
1889  to  1891;  and  again  during  recent  years  a 
greater  number  of  steamers  have  been  built.  But 
according  to  the  whole  tonnage  Finland  does  not  now 
stand  high  in  the  ranks  of  ship- owning  nations.  In 
present  circumstances,  and  in  imitation  of  other 
countries,  there  has  naturally  been  a  question  of  State 
subsidies  for  certain  lines  of  steamers,  especially  for  the 
export  of  butter  to  England. 

It  is  in  consequence  of  the  slower  progress  of  the 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      177 

steam  part  of  the  marine  that  Finland  has  not  kept 
her  share  of  foreign  commerce.     In    1899   the   total 
number  of  clearances  for  ships  of  1 9  tons  or  over  was : 
Arrivals,  8,185,  with    1,999,000  tons;  outgoing  ships, 
8,208,   with   2,005,000    tons.     In    1876,  when  there 
were    more    small    sailing    ships,     the    figures    were : 
Arrivals,  9,364,  with    1,314,000  tons;  outgoing  ships, 
9,220,   with    1,311,000  tons.     In    1866    the    figures 
were:    Arrivals,  3,742,  with   517,000  tons;  outgoing 
ships,  3,901,  with  529,000  tons.     In  1868  the  figures 
were  much  higher,  and  they  have   of  course  moved 
with  the  commerce.     A   considerable  number   of  the 
incoming  ships  are  in  ballast,  though  a  very  small  part 
of  the  outgoing,  the  reason  being  that  there  is  not 
enough  return  freight  to  be  equivalent  to  the  large 
outgoing  freight  of  wood.     Thus   the   ships  going  to 
the  Baltic  have  a    specially    cheap    freight   home   of 
merchandise,  such  as  coal  and  iron,  and  to  Finland 
also  of  grain.     In  Finland  in  1899  only   5,098   ships, 
with  1,021,000  tons,  came  in  with  freight,  and  3,087, 
with    978,000    tons,    representing   half  of    the   total 
tonnage    (amongst    these    being    the    greater    portion 
of  the  sailing  vessels),  had  only  ballast.     Almost  all 
the  outgoing  ships,  on  the  contrary,  had  freight,  these 
numbering  7,210,  with   1,825,000  tons,   against  only 
998,  with  1 80,000  tons,  which  were  in  ballast.     These 
last  were  evidently  only  a  number  of  very  small  vessels. 
Most  of  the  space  freighted  with   cargo   is  on  board 
steamers,     the    amount    being    in     1899:     Arrivals, 
757,000  tons  on  steamers,  against  264,000  on  saihng 
vessels  :  Outgoing,  1,2  50,000  tons  on  steamers,  575 ,000 
tons  on  sailing  vessels.     From  1867  to  1869  the  pro- 
portion   was    entirely   different,  being  at  arrival  only 
36  per  cent,  for  steamers  and  64  per  cent,  for  sailing 
vessels ;  at  departure  (where  wood  fills  a  larger  space), 

M 


178  FINLAND 

17  and  83.  Now  the  proportion  is  again  entirely 
changed.  In  1899  arriving  steamers  had  'j6  per  cent, 
of  their  space  freighted,  sailing  vessels  only  24  per 
cent. ;  and  even  at  departure  the  steamers  had  70 
per  cent,  and  sailing  only  30  per  cent.  As  a  result 
of  this  the  Finnish  commercial  marine,  which  still 
consists  mainly  of  sailing  vessels,  now  plays  a  much 
smaller  part.  In  1867-9  Finland's  share  of ,  the 
freighted  tonnage  at  arrival  of  ships  with  freight  was 
80  per  cent.,  against  20  per  cent,  for  ships  from 
other  countries;  in  1894-6  only  63  against  37; 
in  1899,  60  against  40.  Among  the  outgoing  ships 
in  1867-9,  t^6  proportion  was  69  against  31  ;  in 
1894-6,  43  against  57;  in  1899,  45  against  55. 
Next  to  Finnish  ships  the  German  ships  hold  the 
first  rank.  Until  recently  it  was  English  ships.  The 
German  ships  represent  now  about  10  per  cent,  of 
the  total,  the  Norwegian  about  9I,  the  English  and 
the  Danish  each  above  9,  the  Swedish  y^  per  cent. 

In  1895  about  6,000  families  were  supposed  to  live 
by  fishing.  They  had  9,000  boats,  all  small,  manned 
with  from  two  to  four  men.  The  whole  take  was 
reckoned  at  from  17  to  18  million  kilos,  of  which 
1 1  million  were  from  the  sea,  5  \  from  the  lakes,  and 
about  three-quarters  of  a  million  from  the  rivers.  In 
reality,  more  was  probably  obtained ;  the  reports  are  not 
complete.  The  largest  quantity,  8^  million  kilos,  was  re- 
presented by  the  Baltic  herring,  or  stromming.  The 
common  herring,  of  which  three  hundred  years  ago  an 
enormous  quantity  were  caught  in  the  Baltic,  is  now  rare. 
The  small  anchovy,  or  "  hvassbuk,"  has  a  certain  im- 
portance in  the  south-west.  From  the  sea  are  obtained 
\\  million  of  common  inland  fish,  pike,  bass,  perch, 
&c.,  which  here  are  found  in  the  sea,  because  it  con- 
tains only  a  very  little   salt.      Half  a   million   kilos 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      179 

of  salmon-trout  are  also  caught,  and  the  same  quantity 
of  smelts ;  codfish,  flounders,  eels,  &c.,  are  also  found. 
From  the  lakes  are  obtained  3^  million  kilos  of  the 
conamoner  kind  of  fish,  and  about  2  million  kilos 
of  excellent  salmon-like  fish,  besides  salmon,  salmon- 
trout,  and  a  fish  in  Finland  called  "  sikloja,"  or 
"  muikka,"  well  known,  under  the  name  of  "  white- 
fish,"  as  one  of  the  finest  fishes  in  the  western  part 
of  the  great  American  lakes ;  also  sik  or  gwyniad. 
Salmon  holds,  of  course,  a  very  considerable  place, 
especially  in  the  rivers  and  lakes,  and  is,  next  to 
the  Baltic  herring,  the  most  important  fish;  it  is 
exported  to  the  value  of  more  than  half  a  million 
marks.  Salmon-fishing  furnishes  excellent  sport  in  the 
northern  rivers,  in  the  Kemi,  Ijo,  and  Ulea;  in  the 
Kumo  there  are  more  salmon-trout.  In  Lake  Ladoga 
sturgeons  are  taken  so  big  that  the  fishermen,  when  they 
take  them  in  to  St.  Petersburg,  sometimes  prefer  to  let 
them  swim  behind  the  boat.  Of  crayfish  half  a  million 
kUos  are  now  exported,  to  the  value  of  about  200,000 
marks.  Seal  shooting  is  of  importance ;  less,  however, 
in  Lakes  Ladoga  and  Saima,  where  certain  specimens 
of  seal  are  supposed  to  indicate  that  these  fresh-water 
lakes  were  once  connected  with  the  White  Sea. 

The  Finlanders  are  not  abreast  of  the  times  in  their 
treatment  of  fish ;  generally  it  comes  into  the  market 
dead,  and  the  new  method  of  killing  the  fish  at  once 
and  transporting  it  in  ice  or  refrigerators  is  not  much 
known.  At  Ekeniis,  in  the  south-west,  some  anchovies 
and  Baltic  herrings  are  canned  or  otherwise  prepared. 
In  some  places  the  smoke-method  of  Kiel  is  employed. 
The  Finlanders  themselves  eat  most  of  their  fishes 
strongly  salted,  a  national  taste  hardly  beneficial  to  the 
health  of  the  people. 

The    fishery    rights    in    Finland    are    regulated    in 


i8o  FINLAND 

ordinary  fashion  and  comparatively  well.  In  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  enclosures 
began  to  take  place,  efforts  were  also  made  to  allot  the 
right  of  fishing  among  the  inhabitants,  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  lands  were  divided.  To  a  great  extent, 
however,  the  fisheries  are  still  used  in  common,  or 
according  to  peculiar  regulations  made  by  the  villagers 
themselves.  The  general  rule  is  that  one-third  of'  the 
streams  shall  be  open  in  order  that  the  fish  may  pass. 
Only  the  fishing  rights  in  closed  lakes  from  which 
there  is  only  one  outlet,  and  which  do  not  form  parts  of 
larger  water-courses,  may  be  held  as  private  property. 
The  government  owns  most  of  the  salmon  fisheries, 
and  some  other  people  are  in  possession  of  peculiar 
rights  arising  from  old  customs.  On  the  sea  the  land- 
owners have  rights  as  far  as  1200  feet  out  into  the 
water,  reckoned  from  six  feet  depth.  Everybody, 
however,  may  fish  with  hooks  and  lines.  Fresh  legis- 
lation will  now  extend  the  right  of  private  persons  in 
certain  directions ;  for  instance,  in  the  sea  and  the 
great  lakes  to  a  distance  of  500  metres.  Also  a  more 
precise  definition  mil  be  given  of  closed  waters. 
Among  waters  which  are  subject  to  private  claims  may 
also  be  reckoned  small  gulfs  from  the  sea  which  do  not 
exceed  eight  square  kilometres  in  extent.  Measures  will 
be  taken  against  the  fouling  of  the  water  by  the  bark 
of  floated  trunks  as  well  as  against  disturbing  specially 
protected  places  by  dragging  the  lakes  for  iron  ore. 

Until  now  very  little  has  been  done  for  artificial 
fish  culture.  The  people  themselves  transplant  fish 
and  roe  by  old  primitive  methods.  Very  successful 
experiments,  however,  have  been  made  with  several 
American  varieties.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the 
enormous  lake  area  of  Finland,  representing  1 1  per 
cent,  of  the  whole  country,  and  in  a  large  part  of  the 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      i8i 

south  more  than  half  the  country,  might  produce  a 
much  larger  catch,  as  well  as  the  sea  near  the  coast. 
In  the  Finnish  lakes  the  catch  is  only  i^  or  at  the 
utmost  3  kilos  of  fish  per  hectare,  against  25  in  East 
Prussia,  and  45  in  Silesia.  Some  private  societies, 
including  one  on  the  river  Vuoski,  do  good  work. 
The  Government  Inspector  ought  to  have  larger  means 
at  his  disposal.  There  is  certainly  a  source  of  wealth 
here  which  it  would  pay  to  develop  in  the  same 
manner  as,  for  instance,  in  the  United  States,  where 
the  natural  conditions  are  very  similar. 

If  we  look  at  a  map  of  Finland  we  notice  that  the 
situation  of  Northern  Finland  is  the  same  as  that  of 
Russia  before  Peter  the  Great.  It  is  a  large  country 
without  any  outlet  to  the  sea,  although  the  sea  is  not 
very  distant.  In  fact,  this  northern  coast  is  endowed 
by  Nature  with  great  riches  which  only  need  to  be 
utilised.  The  adjoining  Russian  coast  on  the  Polar  Sea, 
and  also  the  coast  running  down  into  the  White  Sea, 
are  as  rich  as  that  of  the  adjacent  Norwegian  coast, 
offering  the  best  opportunity  for  fishing  in  the  world, 
and  rich  in  cod  and  other  fishes.  The  Gulf  Stream 
keeps  it  open  the  whole  year,  and  it  differs  in  this 
respect  from  the  coast  of  Finland  farther  south.  It 
has  at  least  three  most  excellent  harbours,  Peisen- 
fjord,  Jekaterin  (since  1900  called  Alexandrovsk), 
and  Jeretik,  of  which  only  the  harbour  of  Jekaterin 
is  now  being  utilised,  owing  to  measures  taken  by 
the  late  able  Governor  of  Archangel,  Engelhard t. 
There  are  excellent  localities  for  docks,  wharfs,  and 
everything  else  needed  in  a  great  harbour.  In  fact, 
the  poor  population  of  the  interior  has  during  a 
number  of  years  regularly  migrated  to  this  rich  coast 
in  order  to  participate  in  the  fishing.  For  some  years, 
from   the  middle   of  the   century   until  about    1875, 


1 82  FINLAND 

there  was  also  a  regular  emigration  to  the  Norwegian 
ports,  every  year  some  people  remaining  there  after 
the  fishing  season.  Now  when  opportunities  are  better 
at  home,  and  more  emigration  has  also  been  going  on 
to  the  United  States,  fewer  of  the  fishermen  remain 
to  increase  the  Finnish  population  of  the  Norwegian 
Finmark.  The  reason  why  a  larger  number  prefer  the 
Norwegian  to  the  neighbouring  Russian  coast  is  said 
to  be  the  more  advanced  state  of  civilisation  which 
is  found  there ;  merchants  and  doctors  abound,  with 
means  of  communication  such  as  telegraphs  and 
steamships,  and,  not  least,  good  administration  and 
order.     So  at  least  the  fishermen  themselves  say. 

There  has  often  been  a  question  of  attracting  the 
Finlanders  to  the  Russian  coast  also.  If  this  is  to  be 
done,  it  will  certainly  be  necessary  to  introduce  Finnish 
jurisdiction.  An  exchange  of  Finnish  and  Norwegian 
territory  has  been  suggested,  but  the  more  natural 
method  of  procedure  would  be  to  give  at  least  part  of 
the  Russian  coast  to  Finland.  It  was  only  in  1826 
that  this  whole  northern  territory  was  regularly 
divided  between  Russia  and  Norway.  For  at  least 
three  centuries  the  Danish-Norwegian  Government 
had  collected  taxes  along  the  whole  coast,  part  of 
which  is  called  the  coast  of  Murman,  that  is,  of  the 
Normans,  because  the  Northmen  were  here  in  olden 
times.  Russia  had  at  the  same  time  taken  taxes  from 
those  of  her  subjects  which  were  wandering  about 
in  the  interior.  Nobody  thought  of  Finland  in  the 
division  of  1826.  In  more  liberal  days,  in  1864, 
a  promise  was  first  given  that  Finland  should  have 
part  of  the  coast  and  of  its  harbours,  in  return  for 
a  slip  of  land  ceded  to  Russia  in  the  south-east  of 
Finland,  where  the  Imperial  rifle-factory  of  Systerbiick 
is  situated ;  but  the  promise  was  not  kept.     There  is 


COMMERCE,  NAVIGATION,  FISHERIES      183 

now  hardly  any  population  in  this  great  northern 
country.  On  the  coast  there  are  a  couple  of  thou- 
sand persons  living  by  fishing,  about  1000  Finns,  250 
Russians,  1 5  o  Russian  Carelians,  and  some  Lapps. 
Of  these  Lapps,  who  number  about  1000  in  the 
whole  Russian  Lapmark,  a  few  are  Lutherans  using 
books  obtained  from  Norway;  while  most  are  of  the 
Greek  Orthodox  Church,  knowing,  however,  literally 
only  three  words  about  religion,  the  first  three  of  the 
Confession.  The  great  country  farther  south,  as  far 
as  Kem,  a  small  place  not  far  from  the  renowned 
Solovetski  Island  Monastery  on  the  White  Sea,  is  in- 
habited by  at  the  most  some  20,000  Carelians,  sepa- 
rated from  the  Carelians  in  Finland  by  their  religion  and 
lack  of  culture.  In  fact,  the  Greek  Orthodox  religion 
is  next  to  impossible  for  these  northern  countries, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  it  does  not  allow  the  use 
of  meat,  nor  of  milk  or  eggs  on  the  greater  number 
of  days  in  the  year,  whereas  strong  animal  food  seems 
to  be  an  absolute  necessity  for  people  who  live  near 
the  Pole.  Also  the  land  can  hardly  be  utiHsed  for 
any  other  purpose  than  that  of  stock-raising.  There 
is  enough  grazing,  at  present  very  little  utilised,  but 
nobody  will  raise  stock  Avhen  milk  and  other  produce 
may  not  be  used.  It  is  unnecessary  to  explain  to 
what  use  the  Finnish  administration  and  the  Finnish 
people  might  put  these  natural  conditions,  which  are 
in  many  ways  rather  favourable.  Also  the  streams  on 
which  the  wood  must  be  carried  down,  which  is  now 
growing  in  value  in  the  Northern  Finnish  Government 
forests,  run  either  to  the  Polar  or  to  the  White  Sea. 
From  the  Norwegian  ports  in  the  same  district,  fishing, 
seal-catching,  and  whaling  has  lately  been  carried  on  in 
northern  latitudes,  bringing  in  between  one  and  two 
million  kroner  per  annum.     Finally,  the  new  Russian 


1 84  FINLAND 

port  of  Jekaterin  would  undoubtedly  be  a  less 
expensive  and  more  decidedly  successful  work  in 
Finnisli  hands.  There  would,  in  all  these  regions,  be 
numerous  openings  for  Finnish  activity,  fishing,  naviga- 
tion and  commerce  ;  while  the  rights  of  nobody  would 
be  violated,  because  until  now  there  has  hardly  been 
any  population  whatever  found  here.  It  would  mean 
a  new  era  of  colonisation,  as  in  Siberia  and  Ameripa. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

MONEY    AND   BANKING 

The  monetary  system  is  closely  connected  with  the 
development  of  banking.  This  was  the  opinion  of 
the  Estates  of  Finland  at  the  Diet  of  Borg^  in  1809, 
when  they  professed  their  intention  of  making  the 
Russian  silver  rouble  the  monetary  unit,  and  asked 
that  they  might  establish  a  National  Bank  in  order 
to  put  it  into  circulation.  We  find  the  same  con- 
nection throughout  financial  history.  Good  money  is 
the  basis  of  credit  in  all  its  branches ;  and  in  Finland, 
as  in  other  civiHsed  countries,  the  National  Bank  and 
other  monetary  institutions  ensure  its  circulation  and 
to  some  extent  themselves  create  the  media  of  cir- 
culation. 

The  monetary  situation  of  the  country  was  a 
curious  one  during  the  first  generation  after  the  union 
with  Russia.  Notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the 
government,  money  continued  to  circulate  in  Swedish 
paper  more  than  in  Finnish  or  Russian  roubles.  The 
Russian  armies  had  brought  Russian  paper  money 
into  the  country,  but  notwithstanding  the  decision 
of  the  Diet  in  1809,  the  people  continued  to  prefer 
Swedish  notes.  The  Russian  notes  were  irredeemable, 
and  neither  these  nor  Russian  silver  money  were 
known  to  the  people.  The  continuous  decrease  in 
the  value  of  Swedish  notes  consequent  upon  too  large 
an  issue  contributed  rather  to  spread  them  in  the  in- 
terior of  Finland.     The  merchants,  who  received  more 

18s 


1 86  FINLAND 

of  these  debased  notes  for  the  same  quantity  of  mer- 
chandise, made  large  profits  by  placing  the  notes  with 
their  customers,  who  only  understood  later  that  they 
were  steadily  decreasing  in  value.  As  is  always  the 
case  when  money  is  decreasing  in  value  the  lower 
classes  and  the  remoter  districts  of  the  country  were 
the  chief  sufferers,  because  it  took  time  before  the 
decreased  value  became  known  there.  Even  in  the 
interior  of  Eastern  Finland  commerce  still  took  the 
same  old  route  as  before,  over  Ostrobothnia  into 
Sweden.  Only  the  province  of  Viborg,  which  was 
used  to  Kussian  money,  because  the  people  were  ac- 
customed to  Russian  rule,  and  trade  with  St.  Petersburg 
was  larger,  continued  to  employ  it.  It  was  reckoned 
that  at  this  period  half  the  money  in  the  country  con- 
sisted of  Swedish  notes.  Decrees  were  issued  then 
and  repeatedly  afterwards  that  taxes  should  be  paid 
in  roubles,  that  all  bills  and  commercial  arrangements 
should  be  negotiated  in  them,  and  that  the  small  Swe- 
dish notes  should  be  confiscated  and  given  to  the  in- 
formant, but  without  result.  Several  times  the  govern- 
ment were  forced  to  allow  taxes  to  be  paid  in  Swedish 
money,  because  otherwise  it  could  get  nothing;  and 
the  outcome  was  that  during  the  greater  part  of 
this  early  period,  notwithstanding  all  decrees,  matters 
remained  in  statu  quo.  The  Finnish  Bank  which  was 
now  established  tried  in  vain  to  replace  the  small  Swe- 
dish notes  by  its  own  issue  of  notes  of  twenty,  fifty,  and 
seventy-five  kopecks,  as  well  as  of  one,  two,  and  for  some 
time  of  four  roubles.  By  1 8  2  i  it  had  succeeded  in 
getting  a  little  over  2  million  roubles  into  circulation  ; 
but  this  amount  decreased  afterwards  till  in  1833  it 
was  828,000  roubles;  and  it  was  some  time  later 
before  it  again  rose  to  between  2  and  3  million 
roubles.     It   was  only    in    1 840,    when    the    Finnish 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  187 

Bank  was  open  to  exchange  silver,  and  at  the  same 
time  had  been  entirely  reorganised,  that  redemption 
began;  and  in  the  three  years  1840-3,  a  little  more 
than  6  million  daler  in  Swedish  banknotes,  worth 
about  3  million  daler  in  silver,  or  12^  million  marks 
of  Finland's  present  money,  was  redeemed.  In  the 
Northern  province  of  Ule^borg  it  took  nearly  twenty 
years  before  the  circulation  of  Swedish  money  was 
replaced  by  what  was  now  declared  to  be  the  national 
money. 

At  the  Diet  of  Borga  the  Estates  had  demanded 
the  establishment  of  a  "  National  Exchange  and  Loans 
Bank,"  and  had  requested  that  this  should  be  sup- 
ervised by  representatives  of  the  Estates,  according 
to  the  old  SAvedish  constitution.  This  last  demand 
was  not  conceded,  although  afterwards  four  auditors 
were  appointed,  one  representative  from  each  Estate. 
The  first  establishment  was  called  the  "  Exchange, 
Loan  and  Deposit  Office  " ;  then  this  name  was  changed 
to  "  The  Finland  Bank  of  Exchange,  Deposit,  and 
Loans  " ;  the  institution  being  best  known  simply  as 
"  The  Finnish  Bank.'  The  Bank  with  its  small  notes 
had  a  difficult  task  to  keep  pace  with  the  circulation ; 
its  capital  was  altogether  too  small  for  any  considerable 
activity ;  and  as  it  was  permitted  by  the  authorities 
to  lend  money  for  long  periods  to  landed  proprietors 
and  manufacturers,  it  had  hardly  any  means  for  real 
commercial  transactions. 

A  great  step  in  advance  was  taken  in  1840  when 
it  was  finally  decided  that  the  Bank  should  not  only 
issue  notes  in  larger  amounts  of  three,  ten,  and 
twenty-five  roubles,  but  should  also  exchange  them 
on  demand  into  silver.  This  had  become  possible  be- 
cause the  same  reform,  the  redemption  of  notes  into 
silver,  had  been  carried  in  Russia  during  the  previous 


1 88  FINLAND 

year  of  1839.  The  older  irredeemable  Russian  and 
Finnish  paper  money  disappeared  then  from  circu- 
lation. The  decision  of  the  Diet  in  BorgS.  in  1809 
that  the  silver  rouble  should  be  legal  money  was 
now  finally  carried  out.  There  was,  however,  this 
weak  point  in  the  banking  law  of  1840,  that  the 
Bank  of  Finland  was  also  obliged  to  exchange  Eussian 
banknotes  into  silver.  The  dangerous  consequences 
of  this  decision  appeared  in  1854,  when  the  Russian 
Bank  was  forced  by  the  Crimean  War  to  stop-  the 
payment  of  its  notes. 

Great  progress  had  in  several  ways  taken  place  in 
the  principles  and  practice  of  bank  administration, 
but  in  some  other  respects  the  old  principles  con- 
tinued in  force  too  strongly  in  the  Bank's  method  of 
transacting  business.  There  was  too  much  delay  in 
obtaining  loans  and  discounting  bills.  Even  in  places 
where  there  were  branch  offices,  a  demand  had  to  be 
sent  to  the  head  office  of  the  Bank,  which  was  now 
at  Helsingfors,  and  not  as  at  the  commencement  at 
Abo,  and  it  took  days  or  weeks  to  obtain  an  answer. 
During  the  first  half  of  January  the  Bank  was  entirely 
closed  for  the  audit.  The  rates  of  interest  and  discount 
were  no  longer  perfectly  immobile,  but  were  changed 
by  the  Government,  that  is,  the  Economic  Department 
of  the  Senate.  The  fundamental  principle  of  the 
administration  continued  to  be  wrong.  The  directors 
thought  it  their  duty  to  consider  the  public  interest, 
instead  of  acting  in  a  business-like  way  and  consider- 
ing principally  the  profits  of  the  Bank,  the  market  rate 
of  interest  and  discount,  and  the  best  possible  security. 
It  continued  to  lend  money  in  order  to  prop  up  divers 
industries,  not  least  among  these  the  landed  proprie- 
tors ;  and  new  branches  were  opened.  For  instance, 
when   the   Crimean   War   had   destroyed   half  of  the 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  189 

commercial  marine,  the  Bank  granted  loans  for  long 
periods  to  naval  constructors,  also  to  public  associations 
and  municipalities.  It  continued  to  be  a  favour  to 
obtain  a  loan,  and  instead  of  rendering  service  to  the 
wbole  public,  the  Bank  assisted  a  few  privileged 
persons.  By  maintaining  a  rate  of  interest  much 
lower  than  the  market  rate,  and  by  allowing  loans  to 
remain  without  amortising,  the  borrowers  were  too 
often  allowed  to  continue  their  antiquated  business 
methods  without  keeping  pace  with  modern  methods. 
As  a  natural  consequence  of  this,  such  loans  lacked 
security  and  were  often  lost,  and  the  Bank  was  without 
means  to  render  assistance  in  periods  of  difficulty. 
During  the  general  financial  crisis  in  1847— 8,  it  was 
found  necessary  to  grant  debtors  a  moratorium  of 
three  years,  and  when  the  Crimean  War  and  a  subse- 
quent short  expansion  of  business  was  followed  by 
another  general  crisis  in  1857,  the  Bank  was  again 
without  any  means.  Although  the  Bank  of  Finland 
had  been  obliged  in  1854  to  stop  the  exchange  of  its 
notes  into  silver,  it  had  retained  the  rule  which  had 
regulated  their  issue,  that  notes  might  not  be  issued  in 
any  greater  proportion  to  its  silver  than  that  of  fifteen  to 
seven.  It  could  therefore  have  exchanged  into  silver  its 
own  notes,  but  to  redeem  those  of  the  Russian  Bank 
too  was  of  course  an  entire  impossibility.  The  Bank 
could  not  as  a  consequence  act  with  the  vigour  and 
elasticity  which  was  necessary  in  order  to  satisfy  the 
demands  of  the  crisis  of  1857,  as  well  as  of  the  follow- 
ing period. 

In  response  to  a  proposal  of  the  Senate,  the 
Emperor  decreed  on  the  4th  of  April  i860,  that 
Finland  should  have  its  own  monetary  unit,  the  mark, 
or  Finnish  "  markka,"  the  equivalent  of  a  quarter  of 
a  silver  rouble,  and  divided  into  100  penni.      It  was 


I90  FINLAND 

obvious  that  Finland  had  better  have  a  smaller  unit 
than  the  rouble,  without  losing  the  connection  with 
the  rouble  unit.  One  advantage  gained  was  that  the 
new  unit,  the  mark,  became  identical  with  the  French 
silver  franc.  A  Mint  was  established  in  Helsingfors  in 
1 86 1  for  coining  silver  money,  one  and  two  mark  pieces, 
as  well  as  pennis  for  small  change.  For  the  time  it 
was  obligatory  to  accept  the  paper  money,  but  several 
measures  were  decided  on  for  the  purpose  of  forcing 
silver  coins  into  circulation.  A  certain  amount  of 
energy  was  employed,  but  hardly  enough.  The  Diet 
in  1863  sanctioned  the  proposition  of  a  government 
guarantee  for  a  foreign  loan  of  30  million  marks,  which 
the  recently  established  "  Finlands  Hypotheksforen- 
ing  "  (an  association  of  mortgagers  of  landed  property) 
desu'ed  to  obtain.  A  condition  was  made  that  8  million 
marks  of  the  loan  should  be  deposited  in  the  Bank  of 
Finland.  When  this  had  been  done,  the  negotiations 
with  St.  Petersburg  were  continued,  and  the  consent 
of  the  Russian  Minister  of  Finance  to  the  desired 
currency  reform  was  obtained.  The  Emperor  Alex- 
ander II.,  who  had  followed  the  question  with  great 
attention,  signed  finally  in  November  1865  a  decree 
that  only  coins  should  be  legal  tender  in  Finland ; 
and  that  the  Bank  of  Finland  notes  should  only  pro- 
visionally, until  13th  March  1866,  be  legal  tender 
when  offered  in  payment  together  with  silver  coins, 
of  which  there  was  not  yet  a  sufficient  quantity  in 
circulation.  This  "  mynt-realisation,"  as  it  was  called, 
was  not  made  without  difficulty,  and  it  resulted  in 
considerable  loss  to  many  persons  because  it  was  not 
enacted  more  rapidly.  The  notes  decreased  in  value 
in  Finland  as  well  as  in  Russia.  For  a  time  the 
difference  between  the  value  of  the  notes  and  the 
silver  increased  to  40  per  cent.,  and  it  was  as  high  as 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  191 

20  per  cent,  even  during  the  execution  of  the  reform 
itself.  The  man  who  had  bought  paper  money  at  this 
low  value,  and  who  must  now  reimburse  in  silver, 
suffered  thereby  a  very  considerable  loss.  A  petition 
was  sent  requesting  other  terms  of  redemption,  but 
the  Emperor  did  not  think  it  just  to  change  the 
declared  ratio  between  silver  and  paper ;  he  held  that 
it  would  be  a  breach  of  good  faith.  The  more  recent 
conversion  of  paper  into  gold  in  Russia  was  based  on 
an  opposite  view,  and  took  place  at  the  current  rate  of 
exchange,  which  is  quite  right  and  just.  An  industrial 
revolution  has  taken  place  when  money  has  decreased 
in  value,  and  to  increase  it  arbitrarily  involves  a  new 
revolution.  The  situation  was  so  much  the  more 
difficult  because  one  of  the  periodical  monetary  crises 
of  the  world  was  taking  place  in  1864-6.  Finland 
itself  suffered  from  unusually  severe  famines  in  1862, 
1865,  and  1867.  The  Bank,  after  this  nionetary 
reform,  was  obliged  to  be  much  more  cautious,  as 
the  large  amounts  deposited  by  the  Hypotheksforenin- 
gen  had  soon  been  withdrawn. 

These  difficulties,  however,  were  only  of  a  temporary 
nature.  By  the  introduction  of  the  silver  standard, 
Finland  had  now  obtained  a  firm  basis  for  its  monetary 
system.  Silver  was  then  the  basis  of  the  monetary 
system  in  the  most  important  countries,  with  the 
exception  of  England.  France  itself,  together  with  the 
Latin  Monetary  Union  and  the  United  States,  had  both 
silver  and  gold,  but  in  practice  they  chiefly  used  silver, 
until  the  great  modern  production  of  gold  brought 
more  of  this,  the  most  valuable  metal,  into  circulation. 
Finland,  its  Bank,  and  its  whole  system  of  banking  and 
credit,  was  now  emancipated  from  the  influences  of  the 
fluctuating  Russian  paper  money. 

The    new    order   of    things    worked    excellently   at 


192  FINLAND 

first,  but  the  situation  soon  changed.  In  the  great 
countries  which  held  to  a  double  standard,  gold,  which 
was  now  produced  in  quantities  greater  than  the  de- 
mand, became  the  real  means  of  circulation.  This 
fact  was  soon  recognised  by  the  most  important 
countries,  and  when  the  situation  once  more  changed, 
and  another  excessive  production  of  silver  again 
menaced  the  circulation  of  the  gold — since  a  che^,per 
metal  will  always  supplant  a  dearer — the  more  impor- 
tant States,  the  United  States  as  well  as  those  of 
the  Latin  Union,  found  it  necessary  to  stop  their 
free  coinage  of  silver.  Then  gold  alone  became  the 
actual  standard ;  silver  coins,  which  could  no  longer  be 
obtained  in  unlimited  quantity  from  the  Mint,  were  by 
this  limitation  kept  up  in  value,  so  that  they  were 
only  really  representatives  of  the  gold  which  was  circu- 
lating, and  were  soon  even  of  a  value  double  that  of 
the  metal  contents.  After  the  Franco-German  War, 
Germany  too  adopted  the  gold  standard,  without, 
however,  introducing  the  franc  as  the  unit,  as  Finland 
had  done  in  its  system  of  silver  coins.  The  formation 
of  a  large  monetary  union  was  thereby  checked ;  the 
German  mark  was  one-third  of  the  existing  Prussian 
thaler,  and  rather  an  equivalent  of  the  English  shilling, 
twenty  marks  making  one  pound.  The  Scandinavian 
countries  introduced  at  the  same  time  their  krone  or 
krona  unit  also  based  on  gold,  but  with  a  crown  as 
nearly  as  possible  the  equivalent  of  their  older  coins. 
Silver  continued  to  decrease  in  value,  and  it  was  evident 
that,  in  order  that  the  value  of  its  money  might  no 
longer  continue  to  fluctuate,  Finland  would  be  obliged 
to  follow  the  common  movement.  In  a  few  years  gold 
became  the  standard  coin  of  all  countries  except  the 
silver  country,  Mexico,  and  other  countries  where 
its  piastres  circulate.     Silver   continued   to   go   down 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  193 

during  the  years  1873  to  1876,  and  the  Bank  of 
Finland  acted  therefore  wisely  when,  like  its  Scan- 
dinavian contemporaries,  it  tried  to  change  its  metallic 
reserve  into  gold  instead  of  silver.  Nevertheless  in 
1875  the  proportion  between  gold  and  silver  had  not 
varied  very  much  from  the  ordinary  ratio  of  i  to  15^; 
and  it  was  therefore  natural  that  this  ratio  should  be 
accepted.  Again,  however,  it  took  too  long  a  time 
before  the  reform  was  carried  out,  and  when  the  gold 
standard  was  finally  introduced  in  1877  the  variations 
were  already  so  considerable  that  the  ratio  was  not 
quite  just  to  the  debtor,  who  had  borrowed  less 
valuable  money  and  must  now  pay  back  more  valuable 
coins. 

The  present  coining  law  was  enacted,  having  obtained 
the  consent  of  the  Diet,  on  the  9th  August  1877. 
According  to  this  law  gold  is  now  the  only  standard ; 
the  unit  is  the  French  gramme,  and  the  unit  of  count- 
ing is  preserved  ;  two  gold  pieces  are  coined  of  i  o  and 
of  20  marks,  containing  the  same  mixture  as  10-  and 
20-franc  pieces.  Everybody  can  go  to  the  Mint  with 
srold  and  obtain,  instead  of  the  metal,  throucfh  the  Bank 
of  Finland,  its  equivalent  in  gold  coins  with  a  reduction 
of  J  per  cent,  for  coining  expenses.  Gold  coins  alone 
are  legal  tender  for  the  payment  of  unlimited  amounts. 
Also  I-  and  2-niark  silver  pieces  are  coined,  of  which, 
however,  nobody  need  accept  more  than  i  o  marks ; 
and  25-  and  50-pcnni  pieces,  of  which  nobody  need 
accept  more  than  2  marks,  and  finally,  copper  pieces 
of  10,  5,  and  I  penni  are  coined,  of  which  nobody  need 
accept  more  than  i  mark.  The  coins  and  their 
divisions  are  very  practical  and  convenient.  Very 
little  gold  is  in  circulation.  The  people  prefer 
bank-notes,  as  is  the  case  in  most  other  countries 
where  it   is   the  custom  to  have  paper  of  a  reliable 

N 


194  FINLAND 

character  and  readily  convertible.  In  reality  there 
is  no  reason  why  gold  should  circulate  instead  of 
remaining  in  the  cellars  of  the  banks,  where  it  better 
serves  its  principal  purpose  of  maintaining  the  national 
money  on  a  par  with  the  money  of  the  world. 
Finland  thus  acts  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Scan- 
dinavian countries  and  Holland,  where  the  monetary 
system  is  as  good  as  that  of  any  other  country.  ,  The 
main  circulation  continues  to  take  place  by  means 
of  the  notes  of  the  Bank  of  Finland  for  5,  lo,  20,  50, 
100,  and  500  marks. 

The  Bank  of  Finland  has  been  reorganised  in  such 
a  manner  that  it  not  only  secures  the  monetary  system 
of  the  country,  but  maintains  the  national  credit  better 
than  before.  The  organisation  of  this  Bank,  and  of 
the  whole  national  banking  system,  has  been  one  of 
the  finest  and  most  important  reforms  of  the  excellent 
liberal  period  which  followed  the  accession  of  Alexander 
II.  In  1859,  before  the  introduction  of  the  silver 
standard,  changes  were  introduced  into  the  Bank  with 
the  intention  of  forming  it  into  a  real,  modern  insti- 
tution of  credit;  and  measures  were  taken,  as  soon 
as  the  Estates  were  again  called  together,  for  the  still 
better  safeguarding  and  development  of  the  institution. 
The  Swedish  political  and  legal  organisation,  which 
had  largely  fallen  into  disuse,  was  now  brought  back  to 
life.  The  Bank  of  Finland  received  a  constitution 
analogous  to  that  of  the  Swedish  Eiksbank,  but  with 
the  further  advantage  that  it  obtained  an  independent 
management.     According  to  the  law  of  November  9, 

1867,  voted  by  the  Diet,  the  Bank  is,  from  January  i, 

1868,  carried  on  under  the  direction  of  the  Estates 
represented  by  their  delegates,  and  in  such  fashion 
that  further  changes  may  take  place  according  to 
the    decision    of    the    Estates,    and    subject    to    the 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  195 

approval  of  the  Finnish  government.  The  Estates 
choose  four  delegates,  one  from  each  Estate,  as  well 
as  four  auditors ;  and  these  delegates  form  an  ad- 
ministration corresponding  to  the  English  Board  of 
Directors.  They  decide,  for  instance,  according  to  the 
suggestions  of  the  managers,  the  rates  of  interest  and 
discount.  The  managers — called  directors,  as  in 
Germany,  Scandinavia,  and  France — are  nominated  by 
the  Emperor,  the  President  is  proposed  by  the  Senate 
only,  and  three  other  managers  are  proposed  by  the 
delegates  of  the  Estates.  At  each  Diet  a  Banking 
Committee  is  elected  to  examine  the  administration 
of  the  Bank  and  to  propose  any  new  rules  which 
may  be  necessary.  At  the  Diet  of  1872  a  complete 
code  of  rules  was  adopted,  which  has  been  several 
times  amended.  Until  1876  the  Bank  of  Finland 
also  took  care  of  the  Treasury  funds,  but  since  that 
date  a  separate  Treasury  Office,  or  "  Statskontor," 
has  been  established.  The  capital  of  the  Bank  has 
several  times  been  increased  by  means  of  a  portion 
of  the  profits,  and  it  has  now  been  brought  up  to  25 
million  marks,  with  a  reserve  which  was  9  millions 
in  1 90 1 ,  and  will  shortly  be  brought  up  to  15  millions. 
At  the  same  time  a  considerable  portion  of  the  profit 
of  the  Bank  has  been  applied  by  the  Diet  to  the  pay- 
ment of  divers  expenses  concerning  matters  which 
depend  on  the  Estates. 

The  main  object  of  the  Bank  continues  to  be  the 
circulation  of  notes,  but  there  is  now  established  in 
necessary  connection  with  this  a  full  modern  banking 
business.  The  recently  amended  rule  for  the  issue  of 
notes  is  that  the  Bank  may  issue  40  milHon  marks 
without  any  equivalent  in  gold,  this  being  the  minimum 
demanded  by  the  circulation  according  to  the  experi- 
ence of  the  worst  years  since   1S90.     For  the  purpose 


196  FINLAND 

of  giving  necessary  elasticity  to  the  issue  the  govern- 
ment may  permit  a  temporary  additional  issue  of  10 
million  marks.  For  all  excess  the  Bank  must  have 
either  gold,  or  foreign  exchange,  or  credit  with  foreign 
correspondents,  or  bonds  of  the  class  which  is  always 
marketable  on  foreign  Bourses,  Silver,  either  in  bars 
or  foreign  coins,  is  excluded  according  to  the  last  re- 
gulations. The  Bank  shall,  however,  always  have  at 
least  20  milhons  of  real  gold  in  hand.  Not  only  notes 
but  all  money  deposited  on  demand  must  be  reckoned 
as  issue  which  has  to  be  covered  in  the  above-stated 
manner.  This  system  has  some  resemblance  to  the 
English  Bank  Act  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  passed  in  1844, 
in  so  far  as  it  allows  a  certain  amount  of  note-issue 
for  which  no  covering  of  gold  is  needed,  but  its  details 
render  it  much  more  elastic,  and  also  more  elastic 
than  the  German  system  and  its  imitations  which 
place  a  heavy  tax  on  a  larger  issue  of  notes.  An  even 
more  important  change  is  that  the  Bank,  instead  of 
tying  up  its  resources  as  was  formerly  the  case,  is  now 
buying  foreign  and  inland  bills  of  exchange,  which 
mean  regular  returns  with  short  periods,  at  the  same 
time  that  it  is  lending  on  perfectly  marketable  paper. 
The  Bank  is  somewhat  stricter  than  private  banks.  It 
does  not  like  renewal  of  bills,  nor  financial  bills  which 
are  not  a  part  of  real  commercial  transactions.  It 
lends  less  than  formerly  on  paper,  and,  compared  to 
the  other  banks,  less  on  stock  than  on  bonds.  Since 
1875  it  has  ceased  to  lend  directly  on  real  estate,  and 
also  prefers  to  leave  loans  on  merchandise  to  the  other 
banks.  It  has  continued  to  establish  branch  offices,  of 
which  it  has  now  fifteen.  Local  committees  are  formed 
at  each  branch  office  for  granting  discounts  and  loans. 
To  understand  the  Finnish  banking  system  it  will 
be  necessary  to  speak  here  of  the  private  banks  estab- 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  197 

lished  since  1862.  Thanks  to  the  work  of  the  late 
Henrik  Borgstrom,  some  of  the  most  important 
characteristics  of  the  excellent  Scotch  banking  system 
were  introduced  into  Finland  by  the  establishing  of 
the  Union  Bank  or  "  Foreningsbanken  i  Finland."  We 
all  know  how  their  banking  system,  together  with  their 
schools,  have  transformed  the  Scotch  since  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  from  a  barbarous  nation  to 
probably  the  first  people  in  the  world.  The  banks  in 
Finland  resemble  more  than  those  of  any  other  country 
the  banks  of  Scotland.  As  in  Scotland  so  we  find  in 
Finland  a  few  large,  well-organised  banks  with  numerous 
branch  offices ;  four  banks  have  at  present  115  branches 
in  forty  different  places,  whereas  in  1887  there  were 
only  fifty-nine  in  twenty-nine  places.  A  few  larger 
banks  can  be  stronger  and  better  managed  than  a 
great  number  of  small  banks;  while,  through  their 
branches,  a  distribution  of  capital  takes  place  in  the 
different  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  rate  of  interest 
and  discount  is  equalised.  A  few  banks  need  also 
nmch  less  cash.  Another  illustration  of  this  system  is 
offered  by  Canada.  Compared  with  the  4000  national 
or  note-issuing  banks  of  the  United  States,  which  are 
not  allowed  to  establish  branches,  the  twelve  Canadian 
banks  are  much  stronger  and  the  rates  of  interest  and 
discount  are  much  more  equal,  to  the  great  benefit 
of  both  lenders  and  borrowers,  and  to  the  special 
advantage  of  the  new  districts  which  most  need  capital. 
Sweden  has,  to  some  extent,  the  same  system ;  with 
the  difference,  however,  that  even  the  largest  banks 
with  their  branches  hardly  hold  the  same  independent 
position  with  regard  to  the  Riksbank  as  do  the  Finnish 
banks,  especially  the  three  largest.  The  Scotch  "  cash 
credit "  was  adopted  at  once  by  the  Bank  of  Finland  as 
soon  as  the  first  private  bank  contemplated  the  intro- 


198  FINLAND 

duction  of  this  system.  It  is  a  system  consisting  of 
giving  credit  to  any  reliable  man  against  deposit  of 
good  paper  or  the  furnishing  of  good  personal  security, 
with  this  peculiar  feature,  that  he  only  pays  interest 
on  the  money  he  actually  uses.  The  system  was 
first  introduced  into  Denmark  ten  years  later  by 
the  author  of  this  book,  by  the  establishment  of  the 
Landmandsbank  there.  This  plan  of  calculating  interest 
only  on  money  actually  used  is  the  same  as  in  the 
case  of  current  accounts,  on  which  in  Finland  2  per 
cent,  is  generally  paid ;  only  that  the  latter  case  pre- 
supposes money  deposited.  Cash  credit,  however, 
means  that  money  is  lent  by  the  bank,  and  ordinary 
interest  paid  on  this,  together  with  a  small  amount  for 
the  whole  credit,  in  Finland  generally  ^  per  cent,  per 
annum.  One  advantage  of  this  form  of  credit  is  that 
it  frequently  gives  the  bank  a  chance  of  following  the 
whole  business  of  their  clients.  Another  excellent 
system  brought  into  use  by  the  Finnish  banks  is  that 
of  the  so-called  "  post  bills,"  the  issue  against  a  very 
small  payment  (formerly  i  mark  per  1000,  now 
only  h  per  1000)  of  cheques  payable  at  any  branch, 
even  at  any  branch  of  any  bank.  This  is  an  excellent 
means  of  sending  money,  particularly  valuable  where 
the  post  is  not  sufficiently  cheap,  as  is  the  case  in 
Finland  since  it  has  come  under  Russian  direction. 
For  a  time  the  Union  Bank  issued  these  bills  "  to 
bearer,"  and  reissued  them  when  they  came  back,  so 
that  they  Avere  really  a  kind  of  note.  As  we  are  told 
by  banking  history,  cosmopohtan  Sweden  was  one  of 
the  first  countries  to  develop  modern  banks.  It  is 
even  said  to  have  been  the  first  country  of  modern 
times  to  introduce  notes,  which  were  first  used  there 
in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Undoubt- 
edly the  ideas  gained  during  the  union  with  Sweden 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  199 

have  contributed  to  the  development  of  banking  in 
Finland.  Still  more,  however,  is  this  an  expression  of 
the  high  economic  position  held  by  the  Finlanders. 

In  one  point  the  Finns  have  not  continued  to  imi- 
tate the  old  Scotch  system,  nor  the  modern  Canadian, 
which  latter  country  continues  prominent  in  this 
matter.  We  refer  to  the  liberty  of  the  banks  to  issue 
notes.  As  will  be  remembered,  this  liberty  was  limited 
in  Scotland  in  1845,  the  year  after  the  enactment 
of  the  Bank  Act  in  England,  to  the  amount  of  notes 
which  the  banks  then  had  in  circulation ;  and  twice  a 
year  when  the  Scotch  banks  need  more  money  they 
must  send  to  London  for  gold,  only  to  send  it  back 
again  a  short  time  afterwards.  In  Finland  the  Union 
Bank  began  to  imitate  the  Scotch  banks  by  issuing 
notes.  From  1867  onwards  it  issued  i|  million  marks' 
worth  of  notes ;  having  obtained  the  recognition  of 
this  right  in  the  banking  law  of  1866.  The  Senate 
might  approve  statutes  containing  the  right  to  issue 
notes  of  an  amount  equal  to  the  stock  capital  of  the 
bank,  and  secured  by  the  deposit  of  bonds  of  one- 
ninth  more  value  than  the  notes ;  it  being  only  allow- 
able to  issue  nine-tenths  of  the  value  of  these  bonds. 
The  shareholders  were  not  jointly  responsible  as  in 
Scotland  and  Sweden.  When  later,  in  1872,  the 
Joint-Stock  Bank  of  the  North  was  formed  it  desired 
to  issue  notes  also,  but  gave  up  the  idea,  as  it  could 
only  obtain  permission  to  issue  notes  for  one  million 
marks  and  in  amounts  not  less  than  100  marks.  It 
is  true  that  bank-notes  in  Finland,  as  in  other  countries, 
hold  a  less  considerable  place  under  the  greater 
economic  development ;  the  deposit  of  money  and  the 
issue  of  cheques  on  deposit  holding  now  a  far  larger 
place  in  Finland  as  elsewhere.  The  notes  continue, 
however,    to    be    of   importance,    particularly    in    the 


200  FINLAND 

country,  and  the  protit  obtained  by  their  issue  is  a 
great  help  to  the  small  branch  offices  in  paying  their 
expenses.  To  some  extent  it  is  true  that  the  notes 
lent  out  create  capital ;  if  they  are  maintained  and 
the  circulation  increased  by  the  loans,  then  and  to 
that  extent  they  render  the  same  service  as  gold. 
The  chief  argument  on  the  opposite  side  is  found  in 
the  importance  of  giving  to  the  privileged  national 
bank  enough  power  to  take  care  of  the  national 
reserve,  which  it  can  better  do  when  it  decides  the 
rate  of  discount;  and  the  power  to  decide  this  is 
again  given  it  by  its  privilege  to  issue  notes.  But 
the  question  is  whether  it  is  not  better  that  the 
elasticity  of  the  circulation  and  credit  of  the  country 
should  be  in  the  care  of  several  banks.  As  a  point  of 
superiority  over  Sweden,  Finlanders  dwell  on  the  fact 
that  from  1886,  when  the  Bank  of  Finland  obtained 
the  monopoly  of  note-issue,  it  was,  like  the  Bank  of 
England,  no  longer  allowed  to  pay  interest  on  ordinary 
deposits,  and  that  in  this  manner  a  division  of  work  is 
introduced  between  the  national  bank  and  the  private 
banks,  which  the  Swedish  Riksbank  would  do  well 
to  imitate. 

Undoubtedly  Finland's  bank  has,  on  the  whole, 
contributed  to  strengthen  credit,  and  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  in  recent  times  it  has  understood  how 
to  keep  a  good  national  reserve  which  can  render 
assistance  in  periods  of  difficulty.  But  the  Finnish 
economist,  Professor  J.  V.  Tallqvist,  is  probably  right 
when  he  reproaches  the  management  of  former  times 
for  keeping  the  rates  of  discount  and  interest  too  low, 
contributing  by  that  to  develop  speculation,  and  giving 
away  the  Bank's  resources  so  that  it  could  not  assist 
when  assistance  was  most  needed.  The  Bank  acted  in 
this  manner  in  the  latter  half  of  the  seventies,  when  it 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  201 

maintained  the  rates  of  interest  and  discount  at  too 
much  the  same  level.  We  shall  return  to  this  point 
when  we  consider  the  periods  of  expansion  and  re- 
striction in  the  economic  history  of  the  country.  As 
late  as  the  period  1886-87,  it  i^ept  too  low  a  rate  of 
discount  and  of  interest.  Professor  Tallqvist  thinks 
that  the  chief  cause  of  this  was  the  old  idea  that  the 
Bank  should  be  conducted  in  part  as  a  benevolent 
institution  instead  of  on  business  principles.  It  was 
supposed  to  be  for  the  public  benefit  that  it  should 
artificially  maintain  a  low  rate  of  interest  and  of 
discount.  He  thinks  that  these  ideas  about  assisting 
instead  of  looking  at  the  state  of  the  market,  which 
formerly  hindered  the  establishment  of  a  real  banking 
business,  were  again  prominent  in  the  eighties  during 
the  period  of  economic  reaction,  when  Bismarck 
abandoned  liberal  ideas  and  the  rulers  of  many  other 
countries  became  less  inclined  to  recognise  the  im- 
portance of  free  economic  activity.  In  Finland  these 
ideas  caused  an  increase  in  the  loans  given  to  private 
parties  from  the  funds  of  the  State.  These  loans  also, 
as  we  shall  see  later,  increased  considerably,  while  the 
reserve  of  marketable  bonds  diminished.  In  recent 
times  the  general  policy  of  the  Bank,  however,  as  we 
have  mentioned,  seems  to  be  irreproachable.  The  pre- 
sent President  of  the  board  of  managers  in  the  Bank  of 
Finland  is  Herr  Theodor  Wegelius,  who  succeeded  Herr 
Alfred  Charpentier,  the  latter  having  been  made  chief 
of  the  Division  of  Finance  of  the  Senate  in  1897. 
Both  were  formerly  at  the  head  of  private  banks. 

The  new  banking  law  of  1886  formulated  rules  for 
banks  receiving  deposits  or  issuing  debentures,  and  did 
not  permit  these  to  issue  obligations  payable  on  demand 
to  bearer.  It  is  by  this  prohibition  that  the  issue  of 
notes  is  now  monopohsed  by  the   Bank   of   Finland. 


202  FINLAND 

But  it  is  permissible  for  banks  to  issue  debentures 
for  long  periods  when  guaranteed  by  the  deposit  of 
mortgages  or  government  or  municipal  bonds  under 
public  control.  The  legal  existence  of  these  banks  for 
the  purpose  of  issuing  such  debentures  is  permitted  for 
a  longer  period,  and  is  no  more,  as  formerly,  limited  to 
a  period  of  ten  years.  A  bank  which  desires  such 
permission  to  issue  debentures  must  have  a  capital  of 
at  least  one  million  marks.  For  other  banks  such 
a  capital  is  no  longer  necessary;  and  smaller  banks 
are,  therefore,  found  nowadays.  Finnish  citizens  only 
can  be  directors  of  joint-stock  companies  and  take 
part  in  private  banking  enterprises  with  joint  re- 
sponsibility. The  banks  are  not  allowed  to  place 
money  in  manufacturing  or  agricultural  industries,  or 
in  real  estate  other  than  their  own  building  properties. 
They  must  publish  monthly  statements,  and  are  subject 
to  public  control  by  a  particular  commissioner  nomi- 
nated by  the  government.  If,  in  addition  to  the 
reserve,  a  quarter  of  their  capital  is  lost,  they  must 
close  their  doors ;  if  one-tenth  is  lost,  the  share- 
holders must  immediately  make  it  good  if  they  wish 
to  avoid  closing  and  winding-up. 

The  "  Foreningsbanken  i  Finland  "  or  Union  Bank, 
the  first  private  bank  in  Finland,  was  formed  in 
1862.  The  earliest  plan  was  to  form  a  bank  in  the 
special  interest  of  agriculture ;  it  was  to  co-operate 
with  the  Hypotheksforeningen,  established  at  the  same 
time,  by  placing  its  debentures,  and  for  this  purpose  was 
always  to  hold  a  very  considerable  amount  of  the 
latter's  paper.  It  was,  however,  soon  seen  that  such 
a  special  purpose  was  not  in  the  interest  of  the  bank 
and  the  shareholders ;  it  might  amount  to  a  com- 
pulsory tying  up  of  capital  in  an  unremunerative 
manner.      This    idea    was,    therefore,  soon  given  up. 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  203 

The  bank  was  at  first  managed  by  the  late   Henrik 
Borgstrom,  its  main  promoter  and  initiator,  and  after 
his  early  death,  by   the  late  August  Tornqvist;   and 
later  by  Baron  J.  Cronstedt   as  manager-in- chief"  and 
ex-Senator  L.  Mechelin  as  president  of  the  board  of 
directors.     It  has  been  extremely  successful.     During 
the    period    1877-79  it  paid   a   dividend   of    15   per 
cent.;  from   1880  to    1882  the  dividend  varied  from 
17   to   19  per  cent.;  since   1884  it  has  paid   20  per 
cent.,    and    in   later    years   still    more,   in    1900    the 
dividend  being   24   per  cent.     It   has    at    the    same 
time    been     able    to    form    a    considerable    reserve. 
When  in    1896  it  decided  to  increase  its  capital   of 
3   million  marks  by  another  million,  it  was  able    to 
issue   the   stock   at   400,   while    128   is   the    price  of 
the  paid-up  capital  with  the  addition   of  reserve,  so 
that   by    this   issue   it   could   increase   its  reserve   by 
another    3    million    marks.      It   has    now    4    million 
marks  share  capital  and  8,700,000  marks  reserve.    The 
lowest  recent  quotation  of  the  stock  is  500,  at  which 
price  it  returns  a  little  over  4  per  cent.     The  turnover 
of  the  bank  last  year  was  about  2,600  million  marks, 
and   its  deposits   88   million.       Its   expenses  have  in 
later  years  been  about  40  per  cent,  of  the  gross  profit. 
The  Joint-Stock  Bank  of  the  North  for  Commerce 
and  Manufacture  (Nordiska  Aktiebanken  for  Handel 
och  Industri)  was  established  in  the  speculative  year 
of   1872  ;  and  one  of  the  objects  of  this  bank,  whose 
headquarters  are  in  Viborg,  adjacent  to  St.  Petersburg, 
and  whose  basis  was    to    be    the    metalUc    monetary 
system  in  Finland,  was  that  it  should  also  operate  in 
Russia,  where  the  local  banks    were   still   confronted 
with  the  difficulty  of  irredeemable  notes.     The  bank 
was  meant  also  to   act  as  a  Crc'dit  MobiHer    or    In- 
dustrial Company ;  that  is,  to  take  part  in  establishing 


204  FINLAND 

new  enterprises ;  and  it  was  largely  for  this  purpose 
that  out  of  12  million  marks  paid-up  capital,  or  40 
per  cent,  of  the  nominal  share  capital  of  30  mil- 
lions, a  sum  of  7  millions  was  used  at  once  to  finance  a 
branch  office  in  St.  Petersburg.  The  banking  houses 
which  promoted  the  bank,  of  which  the  Seligmanns 
in  Frankfort  was  the  best  known,  reserved  for  them- 
selves an  important  privilege  as  to  the  issue  of  new 
stock.  As  the  speculative  period  after  the  Franco- 
German  war  was,  however,  followed  by  the  crisis  of 
1873,  the  capital  was  decreased  to  the  already  paid- 
up  12  millions,  and  the  stock  was  also  offered  for 
subscription  in  Finland  at  102 -J?.  In  1876  the 
capital  was  further  put  down  to  8  millions,  and 
2  millions  were  written  off  as  loss  in  Russia.  This 
bank  also,  with  Herr  Eugen  Wolff  as  chairman  of 
the  board  of  directors  and  Herr  W.  Burjam  and  Herr 
Felix  Heikel  as  chief  managers,  has  lately  been  very 
successful.  It  was  able  in  1896  to  increase  its 
capital  by  half  a  million  marks  issued  at  190,  and 
in  1898  by  i|  million  issued  at  200  ;  so  that,  having 
paid  out  of  the  profit  of  the  issue  450,000  marks 
to  the  banking  houses  of  Seligmann  and  Stettheimer, 
it  could  increase  its  reserve  to  a  total  of  3I  millions. 
The  dividend  on  its  10  million  marks  of  share  capital 
has  during  seven  years  averaged  more  than  9  per  cent., 
which  in  later  years  has  been  a  little  less  than  4  per 
cent,  on  the  price  of  the  stock.  Its  expenses  have 
been  less  than  40  per  cent,  of  the  gross  profit. 

Among  other  banks,  the  Bank  of  Vasa  was  estab- 
lished in  1879,  with  the  object  of  taking  over  the 
main  part  of  the  banking  business  in  Ostrobothnia  ; 
but  as  the  other  banks  would  not  give  up  their 
branch  offices  in  this  part  of  the  country,  it  also 
established  branches  elsewhere.     It    was    able  to  in- 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  205 

crease  its  capital  of  i|  million  by  the  issue  in 
1896  of  another  i|  million  at  170;  145  would  have 
been  the  price  at  par,  reckoning  the  capital  with 
the  additional  reserve.  It  has  now  a  share  capital 
of  3  millions  with  a  reserve  of  1,850,000.  It  has 
in  later  years  paid  9  per  cent,  in  dividends.  Its 
expenses  have  varied  considerably.  The  Bank  of 
Nyland  was  established  in  1887  with  only  300,000 
marks  capital,  but  in  1890  and  1895  it  increased 
its  capital  by  300,000  and  400,000  marks  issued 
at  125  and  132;  the  last  issue  was  at  par,  reckoning 
the  capital  with  the  additional  reserve.  It  has  now 
I  million  capital  and  300,000  marks  reserve,  the 
average  dividend  being  5  per  cent. ;  and  the  expenses 
being  39  per  cent,  of  the  gross  profit.  The  Folk- 
bank,  which  it  was  decided  to  establish  at  about  the 
same  time,  and  which  tried  to  attract  depositors  by 
giving  part  of  the  profit  to  those  who  deposited  on 
Savings  Bank  terms,  has  increased  its  capital  of 
300,000  to  700,000  by  the  issue  of  new  stock 
at  103,  but  in  consequence  of  losses  in  1896  it 
transferred  its  business  to  the  new  Privatbank  of 
Helsingfors  with  a  capital  of  2  millions.  This  bank, 
too,  with  Herr  E.  Schybergson  as  manager,  has  been 
able  to  issue  new  stock  at  160,  increasing  thereby 
the  share-capital  to  4  millions  with  one  million  reserve. 
The  dividend  in  1900  was  10  per  cent.  The  Kansallis 
Osake  Pankki  (the  Finnish  name  for  the  "  National 
Joint-Stock  Bank  "),  with  Professor  Alfred  Kihlman  as 
chairman  of  the  board  of  directors  and  Herr  F.  K. 
Nybom  as  manager-in-chief,  was  established  in  1890 
in  Helsingfors  with  2i  million  capital,  one  quarter 
being  paid  up;  later,  in  1891,  it  was  able  to  issue 
i^  million  more  of  stock  at  106,  and  in  1898  one 
million   at    106,   so   that  it   has   now   a  capital   of   5 


2o6 


FINLAND 


million  marks  and  a  reserve  of  about  1 1  million  marks. 
Its  expenses  have  been  3  9  per  cent,  of  the  gross  profit. 
It  has  27  branch  offices,  and  holds  more  ordinary 
deposits  than  any  other  bank.  During  the  last  few 
years  it  has  paid  a  dividend  of  9  per  cent.  The 
Joint-Stock  Bank  of  Abo  with  Herr  E.  Dahlstrom 
as  chairman  of  the  board  of  directors  and  Herr  J. 
0.  Wasastjerna  as  manager,  and  the  Joint-Stock  ^^ank 
of  Tammerfors  with  Herr  E.  Borenius  as  manager,  each 
with  3  million  marks'  capital,  are  new  institutions. 
The  Maanviljelys-jateollisuus  pankki  (Bank  of  Agri- 
culture and  Manufactures),  established  in  1898  with 
a  capital  of  3  million  marks,  and  a  reserve  of  300,000, 
is  the  only  bank  which  has  not  been  successful,  and 
it  has  therefore,  according  to  the  banking  law,  been 
obliged  to  close  its  doors.  Connected  with  it  was 
the   small  bank  of  Nykarleby. 

In  order  to  give  a  more  complete  idea  of  the  busi- 
ness done  we  will  give  in  round  figures,  representing 
millions  of  marks,  the  most  important  items  from  the 
statement  of  the  banks. 

The  Bank  of  Finland  had  at  the  end  of  the  following 
three  years : — 

Credit. 

Gold  reserve       .... 

Silver         ..... 

Current  accounts  with  foreign  corre-  I 
spondents       .         .         .         .        j 

Balance  of  first-class  bonds  saleable  ) 
in  foreign  countries         .         .       j 

Forei^C'n  bills 

Bills  on  Finland 

Loans 

Cash  credit 

Bank  buildings  . 

Sundries    . 


1879. 

1889. 

189 

•  17 

22 

21 

•   9 

3 

2 

>      II 

16 

22 

5 

13 

22 

I 

2 

7 

10 

19 

33 

II 

8 

13 

3 

4 

4 

I 

I 

4 

2 

I 

Total 


71 


90 


126 


MONEY  AND  BANKING 


207 


Debit. 

Notes  issued      .... 
Deposit  on  demand  and  post  bills 
Debt  on  amortisation 
Capital      ..... 
Reserve     ..... 
Profit  not  employed  . 

Total       . 


1879.    1889.    1899. 


37 
7 
4 
6 

9 


7^ 


55 
8 

3 
10 

7 
7 

90 


73 
18 

I 
10 
16 

8 

126 


Among  later  changes  up  to  the  end  of  June  1901 
may  be  mentioned  an  increase  in  the  discounting  of  bills 
on  Finland  to  39  millions,  in  foreign  bills  to  10  millions, 
and  loans  to  1 6  millions ;  an  increase  natural  in  a 
period  when  several  private  banks  were  obliged  to 
decrease  their  business.  The  reserve  has  at  the  same 
time  been  increased  considerably,  but  is  now  being  used 
largely  to  increase  the  capital  to  25  millions,  while 
the  reserve  itself  is  to  be  brought  up  to  15  millions. 

The  private  banks  had  at  the  end  of  the  years : — 


Cued  IT. 
Cash  ..... 

Credit  with  foreign  correspondents 

and  foreign  bills 
Bonds        ..... 
Bills  on  Finland 
Loans        ..... 
Cash  credit  and  current  accounts 
Bank  buildings  .... 

Total 


1879. 

5 
3 

8 
16 
II 

8 

51 


1889.    1899. 


16 

15 
37 
21 

17 
I 


28 
124 

85 
93 


15       370 


Debit. 


15 

iS 

53 

27 

77 

282 

6 

13 

19 

Stock  capital  and  reserve 
Deposits  and  loan  on  time 
Running  accounts 


Since  the  end  of  1899  the  discount  and  loans  have 
increased,  but,  latterly,  also  the  deposits ;  and  the  less 


2o8  FINLAND 

favourable  situation  and  decrease  in  business,  such  as 
has  also  occurred  in  other  countries,  seems  again  about 
to  give  place  to  a  more  favourable  situation.  The 
balance  of  the  banks,  of  private  banks  as  well  as  that 
of  the  Bank  of  Finland,  makes  on  the  whole  a  very 
favourable  impression.  It  will  be  noticed  that  it  is 
especially  credit  in  readil^^-liquidated  form,  particularly 
bills  of  exchange,  which  has  increased.  Also-  cash 
credit  has  increased  considerably.  At  the  same ,  time 
the  period  of  the  running  of  bills  and  loans  has 
decreased.  The  expenses  of  the  banks  are  on  an 
average  under  i  per  cent,  of  the  whole  amount  to  the 
credit  of  the  bank,  and  under  i  per  thousand  of  the 
turnover ;  and,  as  we  have  already  mentioned  in 
speaking  of  the  large  banks,  they  represent  about  40 
per  cent,  of  the  gross  profit.  As  we  also  mentioned 
in  connection  with  the  private  banks,  the  great 
increase  in  the  capital  of  the  banks  has  taken  place  in 
latter  years.  It  was  durmg  the  period  1896-98  that 
this  increased  by  22  milhons  to  a  total  of  36  millions 
of  capital  and  17  millions  of  reserve.  The  business 
of  the  private  banks,  which  are  comparatively  new 
institutions,  has  increased  more  rapidly  than  that  of 
the  Bank  of  Finland. 

Concerning  these  banks,  as  well  as  other  departments 
of  the  economic  life  of  the  country,  it  is  of  interest  to 
examine  the  periods  of  expansion  and  restriction, 
which  return,  especially  in  the  larger  countries,  with 
a  certain  regularity  every  ten  or  eleven  years.  There 
is  never  perfect  regularity;  peculiar  causes  always 
exercise  a  considerable  influence,  not  the  least  in  small 
countries  with  an  unusual  situation.  In  Finland,  the 
consequences  of  the  frequent  failures  of  the  harvest  are 
necessarily  widely  felt,  as  is,  on  the  other  hand,  any 
increase  in  the  demand  for  wood  in  foreign  countries. 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  209 

Lumber  and  other  forms  of  wood  follow  to  an  unusual 
extent  the  general  expanding  and  contracting  move- 
ments of  the  great  markets.     But  this  is  not  always 
so;  and,  as  in  the  case  of  iron,  there  is  also  a  con- 
siderable demand  for  wood  during  the  early  days  of  a 
period  of  depression.     Constructive  work  is  going  on ; 
contracts  have  been  made;  it  takes  time  before  busi- 
ness can  be  stopped.     On   the  other   hand,  the  pre- 
arranged transport  of  wood  to  the  markets  cannot  be 
stopped,  since  it  takes  in  some  cases  four  years  from 
the  moment  of  cutting  down  the  trees  in  the  forests. 
Among  other  disturbing  causes   in   Finland  must   be 
remembered  the  two  monetary  changes  from  irredeem- 
able  notes   to  silver,  and  from  silver  to  gold,  which 
were  especially  disturbing,  because  long  periods  were 
allowed  to  elapse  before  the  changes  decided  on  were 
carried  out. 

The  period   of  the   sixties  has   been  spoken  of  in 
connection  with  the  difficulties  caused  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  silver  standard,  and  we  have  explained 
how  this  transformation  of  the  monetary  system  coin- 
cided with  severe  famines,  as  well  as  with  the  universal 
crisis  of  1864,  which  culminated  in  a  panic  in  London 
on  "Black  Friday"  in   1866,  when  Overend  &  Gurney 
failed.     The   situation   in   Finland   became   peculiarly 
difficult,  because  the  government  delayed  the  carrying 
out  of  promised   monetary   reform,   and   thereby  un- 
certainty was  created;  this  being  especially  the  case 
at  the  beginning   of    1865.     The   Bank  of  Finland's 
total  loans  decreased  between  the  end  of    1863    and 
the  end   of   1865    from    25    to   less  than   20  milhon 
marks,  and   in   October    1866   to    18    million  marks; 
while  in    1865   even  the  Union  Bank  was  obliged  to 
restrict    its    discounts    by    about    2    million    marks. 
The  note  circulation  of  the  Bank  of  Finland  decreased 


2IO  FINLAND 

between  October  1865  and  July  1866  from  26  to  20 
millions.  In  1866  the  country  is  said  to  have  gone 
through  the  severest  crisis  it  has  ever  known.  Then 
and  in  the  next  period  all  forms  of  banking  business 
decreased,  note  circulation,  deposits,  loans  and  dis- 
counts, current  accounts  and  cash  credit.  The  import, 
which  in  1865  amounted  to  72  millions,  was  in  1866 
only  56  millions;  the  export  went  down  from  40  to 
31  millions.  It  was  not  till  1869  that  the  import 
again  rose  above  the  total  of  1865,  to  y^  millions; 
the  export  had  increased  considerably  by  1867.  In 
1869  the  harvest  was  better,  and  the  whole  situation 
was  ameliorated,  but  commerce  again  decreased  between 

1869  and  1870.  The  bills  held  in  the  Bank  of  Fin- 
land decreased  from  a  maximum  in  1 862  to  a  minimum 
in  1870;  but  when  the  total  amount  of  the  loans 
between  1867  and  1871  decreased  from  36^  to  29I, 
this  decrease,  especially  for  the  last  year,  can  only  be 
said  to  have  been  formally  announced ;  the  Bank  re- 
cognised then  in  its  accounts  considerable  losses,  which 
were  really  incurred  earlier. 

Finland  profited  considerably  by  the  general  ex- 
pansion of  business  in  the  period  following  the  Franco- 
German  war.  The  export  of  lumber  brought  much 
money  into  the  country,  even  after  the  general  crisis 
had  taken  place  in  1873.  The  whole  export  of  wood 
increased  between  1870  and  1877  from  13  to  59 
million  marks.  All  kinds  of  business  expanded.  The 
bank  deposits  increased  between  1869  and  1876  from 
18  to  34I  millions ;  the  banks'  bills  on  Finland  between 

1870  and  1876  from  11  to  ^6  millions.  At  the  end 
of  1872  there  were  fewer  foreign  bills,  but  in  the 
following  years,  when  most  other  countries  suffered 
from  the  general  monetary  crisis,  business  in  Finland 
continued  to  progress.     In   the   years    1873-74  loans 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  211 

under  divers  forms  increased  in  the  Bank  of  Finland 
by  30  per  cent.,  and  in  the  Union  Bank  by  28  per 
cent.;  again  in  1875  in  the  Bank  of  Finland  by  43 
per  cent,,  but  in  the  Union  Bank  in  that  year  only  by 
8  per  cent.  We  mention  these  figures  because  Pro- 
fessor Tallqvist  is  probably  right  in  reproaching  the 
Bank  of  Finland  with  too  low  a  rate  of  interest  and 
discount.  This  was  increased  by  the  Union  Bank  in 
the  spring  of  1875  to  5  and  5^  per  cent.,  besides  the 
commission  of  i  and  2  per  cent,  paid  on  all  discounts ; 
but  it  was  only  in  the  beginning  of  1876  that  the 
Bank  of  Finland  increased  its  low  4  per  cent,  rate  by 
^  per  cent.  It  was  therefore  only  natural  that,  unlike 
the  other  banks,  its  discounts  continued  to  increase  in 
1876-77,  and  its  loans  on  deposited  securities  even  in 
1878.  Felix  Heikel  quotes  the  common  saying  that 
the  Bank  of  Finland  now  accepted  the  lemons  squeezed 
by  the  other  banks. 

Already,  in  1875,  lumber  had  gone  down  and  the 
freights  were  also  low.  There  was  no  general  crisis, 
but  the  failure  of  the  Bank  of  Glasgow  had  a  certain 
influence  on  the  general  market.  In  1877,  during 
the  Russo-Turkish  war,  lumber  again  went  down,  and 
commerce,  particularly  exports  to  Russia,  suffered  from 
the  great  decrease  in  the  value  of  the  rouble.  The 
adoption  of  the  gold  standard  in  Finland  in  1877  took 
place  with  less  delay  than  the  introduction  of  the 
silver  standard  in  the  sixties,  though  only  after  a  con- 
siderable fall  in  silver  and  considerable  fluctuation  in 
the  ratio  to  gold:  changes  which  were  greatly  to  the 
disadvantage  of  debtors.  The  Bank  of  Finland  was 
obliged  to  preserve  a  sufficient  reserve  of  gold,  and 
having  for  a  while  continued  an  over-liberal  increase 
of  its  bills  and  loans,  it  was  now  obliged  to  restrict  its 
business.     Its  loans,  under  divers  forms,  decreased  in 


212  FINLAND 

the  period  1877-80  from  28  to  17  millions;  while  the 
holding  of  bills  in  all  the  banks  in  the  period  1 876-79 
decreased  from  36  to  26|-  millions;  loans  on  deposited 
securities  in  the  period  1877-80  from  22|  to  15^^ 
millions ;  and  the  total  of  loans  in  the  period  187  7—80 
from  65I  to  below  49  millions.  Here  as  elsewhere  it 
was  noted  that  the  discounting  of  bills  decreased  first ; 
at  the  beginning  of  the  bad  time  customers  were  ,ready 
to  produce  deposits  for  theii*  loans.  On  the  other 
hand,  when  the  good  times  began  again,  loans  on  bills 
or  personal  credit  were  the  first  to  be  extended.  As  a 
consequence  of  the  bad  times  and  a  poor  sale,  loans  on 
merchandise,  especially  on  deals  and  boards,  at  once 
rose  to  a  rather  considerable  extent,  decreasing  again 
rapidly  to  a  minimum  in  the  following  years.  The 
banks'  foreign  bills,  as  well  as  their  credit  with  their 
correspondents,  decreased  in  the  period  1873—78  from 
30  to  8  millions;  in  the  Bank  of  Finland  they  went 
down  during  the  period  1874—78  from  24  to  less  than 
6  millions ;  and  if  to  this  is  added  the  decrease  of  its 
foreign  saleable  securities,  from  about  26  to  about 
9  millions,  there  appears  here  a  total  decrease  in 
resources  from  50  to  15  millions.  Notwithstanding 
the  formation  of  the  gold  reserve,  the  ready  money 
did  not  increase,  but  decreased  by  some  millions.  In 
1878.  with  a  bad  harvest,  the  real  financial  crisis 
developed. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  situation  and  of  the  liqui- 
dation which  had  already  taken  place,  the  general 
crisis  of  1882-84,  which  raged  in  the  United  States, 
and  was  marked  by  the  collapse  of  the  Union  G^nerale 
in  France,  was  less  felt  in  Finland.  The  prices  and 
export  of  lumber  had  been  good  in  1880  and  1882, 
but  were  poor  in  1883,  in  consequence  of  this  general 
crisis.     Also  other   export   to   Russia   was   bad.     The 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  213 

sinking  of  the  value  of  the  rouble  brought  a  momen- 
tary profit  to  Russian  exporters,  but  was  a  great  dis- 
advantage to  all  importers.  In  1882  the  import  to 
Finland  had  been  as  high  as  167  millions,  the  export 
as  high  as  120  millions ;  they  fell  in  the  following 
years  to  90  millions  for  the  import  in  1886,  and 
yj  millions  for  the  export  in  1887.  The  bank  state- 
ments reflect  the  situation.  The  holding  of  foreign 
exchange  and  the  amounts  of  foreign  current  accounts 
decreased  in  the  period  1880-82  from  38^  to  2\\ 
millions,  and  again  in  1883-84  from  about  27  to 
under  26  millions,  and  in  the  Bank  of  Finland  in  the 
period  1883-86  from  18  to  12  millions.  On  the 
whole,  the  Bank  of  Finland  maintained  a  careful 
policy  during  this  period ;  losses  occurred  in  1883 
in  two  other  banks,  but  not  in  the  national  bank. 
There  was  another  partial  decrease  of  business  in  the 
next  few  years,  but  1887  was  again  a  year  of  expan- 
sion. On  the  whole,  the  bank  business  progressed 
during  this  period,  the  total  loans,  for  instance,  in 
1885-87  rising  from  less  than  69  to  over  80  millions. 
The  Union  Bank  and  the  Joint-Stock  Bank  of  the 
North  wisely  decreased  their  deposit  interest.  The 
Bank  of  Finland  had  restricted  its  loans  in  1886,  but 
surpassed  the  others  now  by  its  low  rate  of  interest 
and  discount,  and  at  the  same  time  established  a  con- 
siderable number  of  branch  offices,  with  the  result 
that  its  loans  increased  in  1886-87  from  21  to  87 
millions.  The  trouble  was,  according  to  Professor 
Tallqvist,  that  leading  men  in  the  Diet  had  now 
adopted  the  German  "  social-politische  "  idea  that  in- 
dustry and  workers  ought  to  be  artificially  assisted 
from  above,  notably  by  an  artificially  low  rate  of 
interest.  Government  loans  of  17,600,000  marks  in 
1886  and  of  40  million  marks  in  1889  contributed  to 


2  14  FINLAND 

develop  a  speculative  activity.  Loans  from  government 
funds  increased  during  the  period  1 887-90  from  19^^  to 
27  millions,  while  the  funds  sold  part  of  their  securi- 
ties. The  years  1888—90  were  also  a  period  remark- 
able for  the  formation  of  new  joint-stock  companies, 
which  were  floated  to  the  value  of  about  24  million 
marks,  16  millions  being  subscribed  in  Helsingfors 
and  its  vicinity  alone.  A  large  amount  of  building 
work  was  also  goinsf  on  at  Helsingfors.  The  .  total 
bank  loans  were  doubled  during  the  period  1887-90, 
rising  from  7 1 1  to  137  millions.  It  was  not  only 
bad  Russian  money  which  created  commercial  diffi- 
culties, but  also  the  new  and  increased  duties  on 
imports  into  Russia  imposed  in  1888. 

At  the  end  of  1890  the  Baring  crisis  in  London 
developed  into  a  universal  crisis,  which  at  last  in  1 8  9  3 
devastated  Australia  and  the  United  States.  As  on 
several  previous  occasions,  it  was  not  at  the  moment 
of  the  great  crisis  in  the  world's  markets,  but  rather 
later,  that  Finland  suffered.  In  this  case  it  was  not 
before  the  end  of  1891  and  the  following  years. 
Lumber  had  gone  down,  and  the  export  was  bad  in 
1890,  decreasing  in  1889-90  from  44  million  to 
below  34  million  marks;  but  it  was  as  much,  or 
more,  the  poor  harvest  in  Finland  ua  1891-92  which 
caused  great  difficulties.  The  import  in  1891  was 
146  millions,  the  export  104  millions;  the  import 
went  down  to  126  milhons  in  1893,  the  export  to 
94  millions  in  1892,  but  increased  again  in  1893  to 
115  millions.  The  rate  of  discount  in  1890  was  3^, 
and  the  Bank  of  Finland  rate  was  put  up  then  by 
only  one-half;  but  at  the  end  of  1891  it  went  up  to 
5  h  and  6  ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  Bank  was  obUged 
to  borrow  from  the  government  5  milHon  marks,  re- 
quiring also  in  the  following  year  government  assist- 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  215 

ance  in  order  to  obtain  a  foreign  credit  of  10  millions. 
Such  a  foreign  credit  for  the  national  bank,  guaranteed 
by  the  government,  is,  however,  provided  for  and  ap- 
proved by  the  Diet.  Business  was  then  suffering 
because  of  a  bad  harvest  in  Russia,  and  on  account 
of  the  prohibition  of  the  export  of  oats  from  Finland 
to  other  countries ;  also  from  the  stoppage  of  traffic 
due  to  fear  of  the  cholera,  and  finally  from  the  tariff 
war  between  Russia  and  Germany,  which  had  provoked 
in  St.  Petersburg  an  order  to  increase  the  Fianish  duty 
by  50  per  cent.  Business  failures  were  iu  1889  only 
155;  in  1 89 1  they  were  285;  in  1892  they  had 
risen  to  448;  in  1893  they  were  413.  The  specu- 
lative building  going  on  in  Helsiagfors  suffered  espe- 
cially. We  have  already  had  occasion,  when  speaking 
of  manufactures  and  commerce  as  well  as  of  other 
matters,  to  show  the  results  of  bad  times  by  various 
statistics.  As  is  usually  the  case,  the  banks  profited 
little  by  the  great  demand  for  money.  In  1889-90 
they  had  paid  on  an  average  1 1 .6  per  cent,  in 
dividends.  In  1891  there  was  a  high  rate  of  in- 
terest for  loans,  but  also  for  deposits,  and  their 
dividend  was  only  8  per  cent.;  in  1892  it  was  7  per 
cent.;  in  1896,  6.2;  in  1894  the  rate  of  interest  for 
deposit  was  decreased  from  5  to  4  and  3  A  per  cent., 
and  the  dividends  in  the  three  following  years  were 
about  7  per  cent.  Some  part  of  this  result  was  due 
to  the  greater  competition  between  the  now  numerous 
banks. 

The  depression  of  trade  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineties,  in  Finland  as  in  other  countries,  was  soon 
followed  by  a  great  increase.  The  business  of  the 
private  banks  was  now  especially  extended,  their  de- 
posits increasing  between  1S90  and  1894  from  89  to 
132  millions,  and  their  loans  from  98  to  146  millions. 


2i6  FINLAND 

The  monetary  situation  improved  further  in  1895, 
when  the  government  borrowed  19  millions  at  3^^ 
per  cent.,  while  20  millions  were  borrowed  by  the 
Hypothekskassa  and  the  Mortgage  Department  of  the 
Union  Bank.  These  increased  resources  assisted  the 
new  progress.  A  large  number  of  new  joint-stock 
companies  were  now  formed.  In  1896,  besides  new 
banks,  ninety  new  companies  were  formed  with  a  'capi- 
tal of  gh  millions,  making  altogether,  if  we  add  the 
increased  capital  of  old  companies,  1 1|  milhons  of  new 
capital.  In  1897,  ninety-seven  companies  with  16 
millions  of  capital  were  formed,  or,  with  the  increased 
capital  of  older  companies,  20  millions  extra  capital. 
In  1898,  201  companies  were  formed  with  31^  millions 
of  capital,  making,  with  the  increased  capital  of  older 
companies,  a  total  of  35^  millions  of  extra  capital  sub- 
scribed. This  is  without  calculating  the  loans  of  new 
companies  from  the  banks  or  their  issue  of  bonds.  In 
1 88 1,  2|  millions  were  borrowed  on  stock  in  the  banks  ; 
in  1893,  iih  millions;  in  1898,  34^  millions.  Bank 
business  was  progressing  rapidly;  but  while  in  1891 
loans  and  deposits  balanced  one  another,  being  1 1  o 
millions  on  each  side,  it  was  the  deposits  which  first 
increased;  in  1894  these  being  146  millions  against 
I2  2h  millions  of  loans,  an  excess  of  23I  millions;  in 
1895  the  deposits  were  204  millions  against  loans 
163  millions,  excess  41  millions;  in  1897  deposits 
288  millions  and  loans  264  millions,  excess  24 
millions;  and  at  the  end  of  1898,  when  the  figures 
had  trebled  from  1891,  they  were,  deposits  319 
millions  and  loans  330  millions,  the  excess  of  loans 
representing  about  12  millions.  At  the  end  of  1899 
there  were  only  306I  million  marks  of  deposits  against 
356  millions  of  loans,  or  an  excess  of  over  49  millions ; 
at   the   end   of  June    1900   the   deposits   were    313I 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  217 

millions  against  loans  385  millions,  or  excess  of  loans 
71^;  the  deposits  had  at  the  end  of  May  gone  down 
to  309;  later  the  loans  decreased,  deposits  increased. 
At  the  end  of  June  1901  the  deposits  were  319 
millions,  the  loans  336  millions,  an  excess  of  only 
17  millions,  reckoned,  as  usual,  beyond  foreign 
exchange  and  government  deposits  in  the  Bank  of 
Finland. 

Generally  the  business  of  the  world  has  somewhat 
decreased  since  the  second  quarter  of  1900,  when  the 
prices  of  iron  and  steel  first  broke  in  the  United 
States,  and  also  when  the  average  prices,  as  they  are 
calculated  in  the  so-called  index  numbers  in  the  large 
countries,  showed  a  small  decrease.  The  reaction 
became  still  more  pronounced  in  1901.  In  some 
countries  there  had  been  a  critical  situation  even 
earlier,  as  for  instance  in  some  of  the  countries  of  the 
Balkan  Peninsula  and  in  Russia  and  Poland  ;  in  Russia 
the  crisis  continued  longer  and  was  sharper  than  in 
any  other  country.  The  progress  had  been  very  pro- 
nounced in  the  Scandinavian  countries  and  Finland 
and  therefore  it  was  only  natural  that  the  reaction 
there  should  begin  comparatively  early ;  and,  more- 
over, this  early  reaction  seems  a  guarantee  against 
later  disturbances.  There  arc  evidently  no  such 
difficulties  as,  for  instance,  in  Germany,  where  the  ex- 
pansion has  been  more  considerable.  The  periodical 
variation  of  prices  seems  to  be  inevitable ;  sentiments 
and  opinions  which  influence  prices  and  credit  vary  in 
a  general  way ;  and  men  move  in  crowds.  But  there 
does  not  seem  to  be  any  absolute  necessity  for  violent 
crises.  It  is  during  these  crises  that  the  efforts  and 
policy  of  the  banks  exercise  enormous  influence,  and  it 
is  satisfactory  to  notice  that  all  of  them,  especially  the 
leading  banks,  have  evidently  learned  by  experience. 


2 1 8  FINLAND 

They  are  well  prepared  for  the  disturbances  which  can 
hardly  be  avoided  when  the  general  economic  tide  is 
turning  and  prices  are  declining.  The  South  African 
war  has  probably  decreased  the  speculative  tendency 
in  England,  so  that  there  is  less  chance  of  a  crisis. 
The  United  States  are  the  field  of  an  extraordinary 
expansion,  but  they  are  also  developing  a  correspond- 
ing strength.  In  Germany  the  wise  chiefs  of  the  n'ational 
bank  have  provided  as  far  as  possible  for  the  reaction. 
The  Bank  of  France  is  stronger  than  it  has  been  at  any 
previous  period,  its  task  being  easier  because  of  the 
small  tendency  to  speculative  enterprise  in  the  French 
nation.  Among  the  smaller  nations,  Holland  has,  as 
usual,  so  acted  that  it  cannot  easily  get  into  difficulties, 
while  Belgium  with  its  great  enterprise,  and  also 
Switzerland,  have  naturally  utilised  the  strong  neigh- 
bouring market  of  France.  The  leaders  of  Finland's 
finance  seem  to  have  acted  with  great  circumspection. 
That  the  private  banks  should  re-discount  and  borrow 
on  securities  in  the  Bank  of  Finland  is  only  natural ; 
they  have  not  done  this  to  any  very  great  extent,  not 
much  more  than  a  total  of  i  o  millions ;  and  in  the 
summer  of  1901  the  amounts  were  decreasing.  On 
the  whole  they  seem  to  have  maintained  their  strength  ; 
and,  what  is  more  important,  this  has  evidently  been 
done  quite  satisfactorily  by  the  Bank  of  Finland. 
Also  the  Bank  has  increased  the  total  amount  of  its 
loans  during  the  period  1895-99  from  31  to  51 
millions,  and  later  by  still  larger  amounts ;  but,  like 
the  Scandinavian  banks,  it  has  increased  its  rate  of 
discount  and  interest  in  time,  and  has  therefore  been 
able  to  preserve  such  resources  as  foreign  bills,  credit 
in  other  countries,  and  saleable  bonds.  At  the  end  of 
1899  it  obtained  a  provisional  loan  of  7  milhons  from 
the  government,  and  we  have  explained  how  the  Diet 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  219 

has  wisely  increased  its  capital  from  10  to  25  millions 
by  means  of  earned  profit,  while  at  the  same  time  it 
holds  a  reserve  of  i  5  millions,  and  how  it  has  finally 
increased  its  right  of  note-issue  from  3  5  to  40  millions 
without  special  covering,  while  at  the  same  time  it 
allows  foreign  bills  to  be  included  in  the  legal  covering 
for  notes,  which  represents  a  monetary  increase  of  an- 
other 5  millions.  Several  other  countries  have  recently 
adopted  similar  measures.  It  is  an  equally  wise  policy 
that  silver,  except  coins,  should  no  longer  be  regarded 
as  cash.  Some  of  the  large  countries  which  have 
gathered  enormous  masses  of  silver  as  reserves  for  their 
banks,  reckoning  it  at  a  nominal  value,  which  is  often 
double  that  of  the  real  value,  have  only  a  fictitious 
reserve.  In  all  countries  the  government  is  closely  con- 
nected with  the  leading  banks,  and  it  is  therefore 
not  without  interest  to  notice  the  situation  of  the 
Treasury.  The  Finnish  government  has  in  three  years 
decreased  the  amount  of  its  credit  in  other  countries 
by  a  few  millions,  the  decrease  being  from  1 1  to  7 
millions.  Herr  Theodore  Wegrelius  reckoned  that  in 
the  same  three  years,  up  to  the  autumn  of  1900, 
several  institutions  sold  foreign  bonds  to  the  value  of 
about  9  million  marks.  In  the  same  period  5  3  millions 
had  to  be  reckoned  to  the  credit  of  the  country,  the 
result  of  foreign  borrowing,  besides  some  conversions, 
some  municipal  loans,  and  loans  made  by  the 
Hy3)othekskassa  (or  Mortgage  Bank)  and  the  Joint- 
Stock  Bank  of  the  North.  Finally  the  government 
itself  borrowed  2  5  millions  as  part  of  the  expenses  of 
the  construction  of  railroads,  to  be  spread  over  four 
years.  All  such  transactions  have  to  be  considered  on 
their  merits.  They  are  only  a  part  of  the  whole  mass 
of  transactions  forming  an  international  balance :  they 
are   commendable  if  they   pay,   not  because  of   their 


2  20  FINLAND 

influence  on  the  international  balance,  which  corrects 
itself. 

An  important  place  in  the  banking  system  of  Fin- 
land is  hold  by  the  Hypotheksforeningen  i  Finland, 
established  in  i860,  and  now  under  the  management 
of  Colonel  Kasten  Antell,  who  is  also  chairman  of  the 
board  of  directors.  It  is  an  association  of  property- 
holders,  who  are  jointly  responsible  in  the  same  rdanner 
as  such  associations  in  northern  Germany,  as  the  Prus- 
sian Landschaften,  for  instance,  or  as  the  associations 
of  property-holders  in  Denmark  and  in  Sweden.  At 
the  end  of  1900  it  had  provided  about  4700  loans, 
of  the  total  value  of  40  million  marks,  of  which 
34  millions  were  still  outstanding.  It  has  obtained 
money  by  the  issue  of  debentures  which,  with .  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  millions  issued  in  Finland,  are  all 
placed  on  the  great  markets,  especially  in  Germany, 
at  first  at  4^  per  cent.,  later  at  4  per  cent.,  and  lastly 
at  3  J  per  cent.  It  owns  now  a  reserve  of  i|  million. 
It  is  controlled  by  the  government,  and  the  State  of 
Finland  has  until  now  guaranteed  its  foreign  loans. 
The  borrowers  pay  at  present  for  the  first  loans  5f  per 
cent,  and  for  the  later  loans  5|  per  cent.,  including 
interest  and  amortisation  and  expenses.  Instead  of 
increasing  the  interest,  when,  as  at  present,  the  general 
rate  of  interest  has  gone  up,  the  association  has  pre- 
ferred to  let  new  borrowers  pay  a  rebate  on  the  loans 
which  they  receive,  which  rebate  has  been  increased  of 
late  from  2^  to  4  per  cent.,  and  to  let  the  decrease 
which  was  decided  on  a  few  years  ago  (a  quarter 
per  cent,  on  the  yearly  interest  to  be  paid  by  all 
debtors)  continue.  During  recent  years  losses  and  non- 
payment of  interest  for  longer  periods  have  been 
entirely  unknown.  The  loans  are  secured  on  half  of 
the  valuation.    There  are  complaints,  however,  because 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  221 

the  association  does  not  lend  on  property  valued  at 
less  than  6000  marks,  and  even  this  limit  has  only 
recently  been  conceded  after  some  resistance  from  the 
Senate,  instead  of  the  former  limit  of  8000  marks. 
There  is  a  fear  that  the  property  of  the  settlers  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  country,  where  land  is  as  easily 
obtainable  as  in  the  uncolonised  districts  of  the  United 
States,  and  also  as  easily  given  up,  might  not  be  suffi- 
ciently good  security.  The  managers  and  directors 
have  declared  that  according  to  their  experience  it  is 
possible  to  fix  a  lower  limit  without  any  risk  whatever. 

The  Mortgage  Bank  for  the  towns,  Stadernas  i  Fin- 
land Hypothekskassa,  was  established  in  1895,  and 
has  now  a  share  capital  of  3  million  marks,  with  a 
reserve  of  about  one-third  of  a  million.  It  is  a  bank 
where,  unlike  the  Hypotheksforeningen,  there  is  no 
joint  responsibility  on  the  part  of  the  borrowers.  Pro- 
fessor A.  Kihlman  is  the  chairman ;  and,  in  succession 
to  Herr  Aug.  Kamsay,  who  was  appointed  chief  of  the 
Division  of  Commerce  and  Industry  in  the  Senate,  it 
has  as  manager  ex-Senator  Serlachius.  At  the  end  of 
1900  it  had  issued  bonds  for  a  total  amount  of  30^ 
millions,  bearing  interest  at  4  per  cent.,  the  price  being 
99.  The  mass  of  its  loans  are  for  long  periods  on 
amortisation  and  are  not  granted  on  more  than  one- 
half  of  the  value.  Most  of  them,  26i  millions  in  all, 
are  held  in  Helsingfors.  It  has  recently  paid  to  the 
shareholders  a  6  per  cent,  dividend. 

The  above-mentioned  law  of  1886,  which  permits 
the  banks  to  issue  bonds  or  debentures  on  security  of 
mortgages  or  bonds  of  governments  and  of  munici- 
palities and  under  government  control,  had  at  the 
end  of  1899  been  taken  advantage  of  by  the  Union 
Bank  and  the  Joint-Stock  Bank  of  the  North,  the 
total  of  their  issues  being  2  3  millions. 


222  FINLAND 

Finland  has  not  yet  any  Exchange.  There  are  only 
periodical  sales  of  securities.  It  must  not  be  forgotten 
how  new  this  whole  development  is.  More  frequent 
sales  of  securities  are  wanted. 

The  savings  banks  have  also  made  progress,  although 
by  no  means  to  the  same  extent  as  the  banks.  They 
are  established  either  by  private  people  or  municipa- 
lities and  communes,  and  by  the  law  of  1895  are 
subject  to  the  control  of  a  savings-bank  inspector.  In 
1880  they  numbered  109,  with  36,000  accounts  and  a 
capital  of  14^  millions.  At  the  end  of  1899  there  were 
188  savings  banks,  with  133 ,000  books,  and  7  2  million 
deposits.  The  average  in  1880  was  396  marks  per 
book;  in  1899  it  was  542  marks.  In  the  country  the 
deposits  amount  to  20^  millions;  in  the  cities  to  51^ 
millions.  The  deposits  were  less  in  number  and  of  less 
amount  in  the  so-called  Old  Finland,  formerly  the 
Russian  part,  and  were  greatest  in  the  south-western 
part  of  the  country,  where  the  savings  bank  of  Abo, 
for  instance,  established  in  1823,  has  15  million  marks 
of  deposits.  In  one  single  harad  one  out  of  every  nine 
persons  has  money  deposited  in  the  savings  bank ;  for 
the  whole  country  the  number  is  one  in  twenty.  The 
savings  bank  of  Helsingfors  has  8|  million  marks  of 
deposits.  The  reserve  of  all  the  savings  banks  amounts 
to  8f  millions,  or  1 2  per  cent,  of  the  deposits.  Half 
the  capital  is  lent  out  on  mortgage  on  real  estate,  34 
per  cent,  against  other  guarantees,  1 1  per  cent,  deposited 
in  the  banks  or  placed  in  saleable  bonds,  and  2  per 
cent,  held  as  cash.  Interest  varies  from  5.45  per  cent, 
paid  by  borrowers  in  Nyland,  to  5.97  paid  in  the 
distant  Kuopio.  In  one  year,  1899,  the  average  in- 
terest over  the  whole  country  increased  from  5.56  to 
5.68.  The  interest  paid  to  the  depositors  was  in- 
creased   from    4.39   to   4.60,   less    than    the    average 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  223 

increase  in  the  rate  of  interest  for  the  same  time.  The 
amount  of  the  deposits  increased  in  1898  by  13  per 
cent. ;  in  i  899,  when  the  general  progress  was  less,  by 
5 1  per  cent.  It  increased  most  in  those  districts  where 
the  highest  interest  is  paid  by  the  savings  banks,  the 
increase  being  as  much  as  20  per  cent,  where  the  bank 
paid  5  per  cent. ;  but  it  was  39^  per  cent,  at  the  same 
savings  banks  in  1898,  and  about  50  per  cent,  in  1897. 
Where  interest  is  low  there  is  a  natural  preference  ibr 
depositing  money  in  the  common  banks.  The  post- 
office  savings  banks,  which  were  introduced  in  1886, 
are  comparatively  little  used;  at  the  end  of  1899  they 
contained  2I  million  deposits,  against  i|  million  in 
1898,  and  I  million  at  the  end  of  1897. 

A  pecuHarly  Finnish  institution  are  the  warehouses 
which  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  establish  in  a 
great  number  of  parishes  to  supply  the  people  with 
grain  during  the  winter  and  the  spring.  Their 
existence  in  about  400  parishes  dates  from  a  de- 
cision of  the  Swedish  Diet  in  1756.  At  the  end  of 
1898,  according  to  their  books,  they  held  364,000 
hectolitres  of  rye,  2 _;  5,000  hectoHtres  of  barley,' and 
260,000  hectolitres  of  oats,  of  which  two-thirds  at  that 
time  were  in  the  warehouses  and  one- third  lent  out. 
They  had  a  reserve  of  cash  of  about  three-quarters  of 
a  million  marks,  and  the  total  capital  of  these  insti- 
tutions, including  funds  formed  by  their  means,  was 
about  7  million  marks. 

Insurance  in  Finland  is  arranged  on  the  same  lines 
as  in  other  countries  which  are  in  the  same  stage  of 
civilisation.  Foreign  companies,  especially  Swedish, 
carry  on  business  by  the  side  of  the  Finnish  com- 
panies ;  and  some  of  the  Finnish  companies  do  busi- 
ness in  other  countries,  though  to  a  less  extent. 
For  some  time  they  seemed    to    succeed,  but  of  late 


224  FINLAND 

the  political  situation  has  lessened  their  credit  in 
other  countries. 

Among  the  fire  insurance  companies  the  Fennia  has 
4  millions  share  capital  and  three-quarters  of  a  million 
reserve,  and  the  Pohjola  has  5  millions  capital  and  a 
quarter  of  a  million  reserve.  At  the  end  of  1898  the 
latter  had  418  million  marks'  worth  of  insurances,  of 
which  317  milhons  were  in  Finland.  To  this  must  be 
added  estimated  insurances  of  foreign  companies  worth 
220  millions  (Swedish  companies  over  151,  English 
over  68),  making  a  total  of  537  millions.  The 
amount  of  insurance  during  the  year  1 900  increased 
by  ^6  millions.  Russian  insurance  companies,  un- 
like Finnish  and  other  foreign  companies,  are  not 
obliged  to  issue  any  report.  The  amount  of  their 
insurance  policies  is  calculated  at  170  millions.  This 
gives  a  grand  total  of  707  milhons.  Among  the 
mutual  benefit  societies,  the  Society  of  the  Country 
has  114  millions  in  policies.  The  Society  of  the 
Cities,  with  Dr.  Axel  Lille  as  manager,  has  302 
millions.  There  are  several  other  considerable  associa- 
tions for  the  provinces,  for  the  saw-mill  owners,  for 
country  merchants,  for  personal  estate  (which  latter 
has  policies  to  the  value  of  55  millions),  the  total 
policies  being  worth  620  millions.  Detailed  reports 
exist  of  the  old  insurance  policies  in  the  hundreds  and 
the  parishes,  where  the  premiums  were  a  kind  of  tax 
to  be  paid  when  the  householder  was  not  insured  else- 
where. They  were  estimated  at  350  millions.  The 
grand  total  for  all  fire  insurance  is  calculated  at  1676 
million  marks. 

A  new  Finnish  company,  the  Osmo,  with  a  capital  of 
half  a  million  marks,  does  business  in  reinsurance. 

For  insurance  of  transport  and  maritime  insurance 
there  exist  two   Finnish   companies,   the   best  known 


MONEY  AND  BANKING  225 

being  the  Sea  Insurance  Company,  -with  Herr  Uno 
Kurten  as  manager,  and  a  capital  of  2  million  marks ; 
and  two  mutual  associations ;  but  the  largest  business 
in  this  department  is  done  by  foreigners.  A  small 
Finnish  company  insures  glass,  and  two  Finnish  com- 
panies insure  horses  and  cattle.  The  one  in  Abo  for 
the  insurance  of  horses  has  3^  million  marks  of 
policies,  and  there  is  a  general  company  for  Finland 
with  4I  million  j^olicies.  Foreign  companies  insure 
against  theft. 

With  regard  to  insurance  against  personal  accidents, 
we  have  already  mentioned  the  new  law  of  1895, 
enforcing  a  general  insm'ance  of  workmen  for  this 
purpose.  There  are  two  Finnish  companies  for  volun- 
tary insurance ;  the  Patria,  whose  manager  is  Herr 
Axel  Lille,  and  the  Kullervo,  each  with  half  a  million 
marks  of  capital,  besides  reserves.  There  are  also 
three  Russian  and  one  Swiss  company  doing  business. 
The  six  mutual  assurance  societies  formed  by  various 
manufacturers  have  fewer  expenses  than  the  pubhc 
companies,  their  cost  varying  from  4  to  i  3  per  cent., 
the  smaller  cost  attaching  to  the  association  of 
the  saw- mill  owners,  which  is  the  largest  society. 
The  expenses  of  the  companies  vary  from  22^  per 
cent,  in  the  Patria  to  2  8|  per  cent,  in  the  Inter- 
nationale Unfalls-Versicherungsgesellschaft.  At  the 
end  of  1899  about  a  thousand  firms  had  insured 
50,000  workmen  against  accidents  incapacitating  them 
for  long  periods  and  against  death,  and  17,000  work- 
men against  minor  accidents. 

Among  life  insurance  companies  two  are  Finnish 
companies ;  the  Kaleva,  whose  manager  is  Herr  Uno 
Kurten,  and  the  Suomi,  whose  manager  is  Herr  E. 
Kaslin,  with  2  millions  and  half  a  million  capital  re- 
spectively, besides  reserves.      In    1899   they  had    114 

p 


226  FINLAND 

million  marks'  worth  of  insurance  policies  in  Finland, 
and  12  0  millions  in  other  countries.  Their  insurance 
fund  was  17  million  marks,  and  their  books  show  a 
decrease  in  business  in  other  countries.  The  total 
amount  of  insurance  policies  in  Finland  in  1895  was 
worth  105  million  marks.  The  Finnish  companies 
have  5  6  per  cent,  of  the  business ;  and  nineteen 
foreign,  mainly  Swedish,  companies  have  the  balance 
of  the  reported  business  between  them.  The  Russian 
companies  are  here,  too,  not  bound  to  furnish  reports. 
The  life  insurance  was  only  78  marks  per  head  of  the 
total  population,  and  only  40,000  persons  were  in- 
sured ;  that  is  to  say,  it  is  still  only  the  middle-class 
who  insure  their  lives.  The  amounts  per  head  are, 
however,  decreasing,  which  shows  that  life  insurance  is 
becoming  more  popular.  Life  insurance  is  controlled 
by  a  Government  Inspector,  but  no  such  supervision  is 
yet  introduced  for  fire  insurance.  Altogether,  insur- 
ance business  is  increasing,  although  not  yet  so  well 
developed  as  is  the  banking  system. 


CHAPTER    IX 

MEANS    OF    COMMUNICATION 

The  oldest  means  of  communication  in  Finland  and 
other  parts  of  Western  Europe  are  the  waterways ; 
in  Finland,  not  only  the  sea  with  its  broken-up  coasts, 
giving  communication  with  the  great  world,  but  also 
the  lakes  and  rivers  in  the  interior.  The  character  of 
this  country,  "  the  last-born  daughter  of  the  sea,"  with 
its  great  lake-systems  in  the  interior,  and  the  land 
only  sloping  down  near  the  coast,  has  made  it  possible 
for  these  great  inland  seas  to  be  utilised  for  navigation. 
It  was  along  the  waterways  that  communication  first 
took  place ;  and  these  are  still  to-day  the  great  means 
of  communication  everywhere,  especially  in  the  north 
during  the  summer,  when  there  is  no  winter  snow  for 
the  sleighs.  In  the  far  north  they  are  still  the  only 
routes  existing,  and  it  is  over  them  that  a  considerable 
part  of  the  people  travel  to  the  large  fisheries  on  the 
coasts  of  the  Polar  Sea  and  the  White  Sea.  In  the 
south,  too,  boats  and  small  steamers  ply  everywhere, 
among  the  islands  of  the  coast  as  well  as  on  the  large 
inland  lakes,  Avhich  have  the  same  character  as  the 
coasts,  and  afford  excellent  means  of  communication 
during  the  summer. 

The  great  hindrance  to  navigation  was  formerly  the 
rapids,  to  which  we  have  referred,  and  which  are  very 
numerous  in  many  of  the  rivers.  The  people,  however, 
soon  learned  to  overcome  this  difliculty;  places  were 
found  where  the  boats  could  be  drawn  overland,  and 


2  28  FINLAND 

experience  tauglit  the  art  of  travelling  on  streams 
where  it  was  dangerous  for  less  expert  men  to  sail. 
To-day  the  navigation  here  is  of  great  importance, 
especially  in  the  north ;  and  the  tar  boats,  which  are 
the  main  means  of  communication  on  the  UleS,  are 
one  example  of  this  river- communication.  These  with 
their  sworn  pilots  continue  to  be  the  regular  means 
of  commimication,  and  for  strangers  it  is  a '  great 
attraction  to  travel  in  this  novel  manner. 

Work  was  undertaken  in  early  days  to  overcome 
the  difficulties  on  the  streams;  and  in  modern  times 
the  great  canals  have  been  among  the  most  important 
means  of  opening  up  the  country  and  increasing  the 
value  of  the  forest  and  land.  The  present  increase  of 
communication  on  these  lakes  gives  some  idea  of  the 
importance  of  the  work.  The  Saima  lake  district,  in 
which  the  Avaterfalls  on  the  Vuoksi  formerly  hindered 
all  access  from  the  sea,  is  the  largest  of  its  kind  in 
Europe,  covering  64,000  square  kilometres,  or  one-sixth 
of  the  whole  of  Finland,  in  a  district  where  one-fifth  of 
the  population  live.  Ships  from  other  countries  can 
now  penetrate  by  these  lakes  400  kilometres  into  the 
country.  The  two  other  lake-systems  farther  to  the  west, 
the  Paijanne  and  Nasijarvi,  have  not  the  same  area, 
but  are  of  importance.  At  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  Erik  Thureson  Bjelke,  who  commanded  the 
forts  of  Viborg  on  the  sea,  and  of  Nyslott  between 
the  lakes,  tried  to  open  an  outlet  here.  The  idea  was 
taken  up  a  century  later  by  General  Pontus  de  la 
Gardie,  a  French  emigr^,  and  some  years  later  by 
Charles  XL  It  has  now  been  carried  through  under 
the  direction  of  the  Swedish  Lieutenant-Colonel  Baron 
Nils  Ericsson,  brother  to  the  well-known  inventor  and 
engineer,  John  Ericsson,  who  designed  the  Monitor  and 
invented  the  screw.     At  a  cost  of   I2|  million  marks 


MEANS  OF  COMMUNICATION  229 

a  canal  was  built  from  Lake  Saima  to  Viborg  in 
1844-56,  with  twenty-eight  locks,  and  a  total  length 
of  59  kilometres,  of  which  32  have  been  dug  out 
of  the  earth.  The  canal  is  now  used  by  more  than 
5,000  ships  every  year,  and  once  yielded  a  revenue  of 
500,000  marks  a  year ;  but  after  the  tariff  had  been 
decreased  in  1893  the  revenue  fell  to  about  300,000 
marks.  Some  time  earlier,  water-routes  300  kilo- 
metres long  were  established  on  the  Saima  system 
from  Villmanstrand  in  the  south  to  lisalmi  in  the 
north.  About  3f  million  marks  have  been  spent  on 
canal  works  in  the  interior ;  and  finally  2  million 
marks  on  making  a  canal  from  Nyslott  to  the  north- 
east, and  from  the  Pielis,  the  outlet  from  the  great 
Pielisjarvi  lake-system.  In  other  places  half  a  million 
marks  have  been  expended,  and  another  300,000  on 
the  Vuoksi  itself.  In  all,  19  millions  have  been  spent 
on  the  Saima  system.  Later,  work  has  been  done  at 
Paijiinne,  and  in  the  interior  of  Savolaks  and  at  the 
outlet  of  the  Kymmene,  the  cost  of  this  being  one-third 
of  a  million  ;  and  finally,  half  a  million  has  been  spent 
on  the  Niisijjirvi  system  and  over  half  a  million  on  the 
rivers  of  Ostrobothnia,  including  some  work  on  the 
Ulea,  River.  The  total  amount  expended  on  canals  is 
about  25  million  marks. 

In  former  times  most  of  the  lumber  was  exported 
from  Ostrobothnia ,  and  when  the  export  became  con- 
siderable the  greater  part  of  the  wood  was  gathered 
together  on  the  lake-systems  of  Niisijarvi  and  Sauna 
to  be  exported,  in  one  case  vid  Bjorneborg  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Kumo,  which  is  the  outlet  for  the 
Niisijarvi  lake-system,  and  from  Saima  (when  the 
Saima  Canal  was  finished  in  1856)  it  was  taken  vid 
Viborg.  In  the  years  1865-69  more  than  38  per 
cent,  of  the  total  export  took  place  over  Viborg,  and 


2  30  FINLAND 

about  14  per  cent,  over  Bjorneborg.  It  was  only  in 
the  seventies  that  floating  began  on  the  Paijiimie  and 
its  outlet,  the  Kymmene ;  and  it  was  at  this  time 
that  Kotka  became  a  town  and  soon  afterwards  the 
leading  export  place  for  timber.  In  1877  a  custom- 
house was  established,  but  already  in  1880  Kotka 
exported  more  than  Bjorneborg,  and  in  1881  more 
than  Viborg.  In  1894  Kotka  exported  20  per  cent, 
of  the  timber,  Viborg  17  per  cent.,  and  Bjorneborg, 
which  had  advanced  to  19  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
seventies,  fell  again  to  14  per  cent.  The  fourth  place 
is  now  held  by  Abo.  On  the  whole,  it  is  still  from 
Southern  Finland  that  the  great  export  comes.  The 
North  has  the  greatest  mass  of  forests,  but  has  only 
recently  begun  to  take  any  considerable  share  in  the 
timber  trade. 

Floating  on  the  great  water-courses  is  the  chief 
method  of  timber  transport.  On  the  Kymmene  and 
Kumo  Rivers  alone  more  than  4  million  logs  per  year 
are  now  floated.  The  associations  of  the  saw-mill 
owners  have  accomplished  much ;  among  other  things, 
they  have  expended  about  900,000  marks  on  the 
Kymmene.  The  result  is  that  it  now  costs  13  penni 
per  log  instead  of  47  penni,  as  in  i  877,  to  carry  the  logs 
from  Paijanne  to  Kotka ;  while  on  the  Kumo  the  cost 
is  38-45  penni  per  log  from  the  rolling  trams  at 
Tammerfors  out  to  Bjorneborg.  At  Viborg  only  3 
to  4  per  cent,  of  the  lumber  from  the  Saima  system  is 
sawn ;  the  mass  is  dealt  with  on  mills  at  the  lakes  and 
carried  by  railroad  or  on  boats  through  the  canal ;  but 
in  the  interior  considerable  masses  are  floated  out 
to  the  larger  lakes.  For  instance  about  i  million 
logs  and  600,000  pieces  for  the  pulp  mills  are  floated 
through  the  Laitasalmi  at  Nyslott,  and  it  costs  now 
only    30-40   penni   from    Joensuu    to    Villmanstrand 


MEANS  OF  COMMUNICATION  231 

instead  of  double,  as  formerly.  In  the  east,  too,  the 
floating  is  important,  as,  for  instance,  on  the  Janisjarvi 
water-course  to  Ladoga  ;  and  for  the  sake  of  the  Crown 
forests  it  would  be  desirable  to  improve  the  floating 
on  Uuksunjoki  still  farther  east.  On  the  lakes,  the 
floating  takes  place  in  large  loose  masses  confined  in  a 
framework  of  logs  bound  together,  which  are  moved  by 
windlasses.  On  the  larger  lakes,  where  great  masses  are 
collected,  they  are  towed  down  by  steam-tugs  or  by  pon- 
toons with  steam-windlasses.  The  transport  across  the 
lakes  costs  little,  and  the  floating  of  loose  logs  in  the 
river  is  not  expensive ;  but  the  rafts,  which  it  is  neces- 
sary to  use  in  the  outlets  of  the  rivers,  cost  more.  The 
floating  business  clashes  here  with  fishery  rights,  which 
are  now,  however,  of  very  Uttle  value  compared  with 
the  transport  of  lumber,  even  where,  as  in  the  rivers 
Tornea  and  Kemi,  they  yield  40,000  and  100,000 
marks  a  year.  The  restriction  of  floating  to  a  short 
time  during  the  year  on  account  of  the  fisheries  is  a 
great  loss  of  money,  because  the  logs  for  this  reason 
have  to  be  two  or  three  years  under  way.  As  soon  as 
it  is  known  that  the  floating  will  take  more  than 
a  year,  the  bark  is  taken  off  the  firs,  as  it  is  always 
taken  off  the  pines.  Considerable  loss  is  caused  by 
the  sinking  of  the  logs. 

Farther  down  the  country  the  floating  is  now  as  a 
rule  well  arranged,  although  here,  too,  much  remains 
to  be  done.  A  large  part  of  the  work  undertaken 
by  the  government  has  been  for  the  purpose  of 
hindering  the  floods,  as  for  instance  those  on  the 
Kumo  and  the  rivers  in  Southern  Ostrobothnia.  In 
the  north  the  government  has  a  large  direct  interest  in 
floating.because  of  its  enormous  forest  property.  It  would 
now  pay  to  carry  out  some  large  works  even  on  the 
great  rivers  running  out  into  the  Polar  Sea,  the  Teno- 


232  FINLAND 

joki  and  Paatsjoki,  on  which  a  large  mass  of  the 
lumber  which  will  soon  be  cut  down  in  the  Enare 
Lapmark  may  be  floated,  as  well  as  on  several  water- 
courses on  the  eastern  frontier,  which  are  affluents  of 
other  rivers  running  out  partly  into  the  Polar  Sea  and 
partly  into  the  White  Sea.  Also  as  regards  the  Tornea 
and  its  affluents,  complaints  are  made  of  the  expense, 
often  more  than  i  mark  per  log,  which  might  be 
reduced  by  more  than  a  third,  notably  by  arranging 
the  floating  of  loose  logs.  On  its  affluent,  the  Tenkelio, 
over  5  marks  each  has  been  paid  for  thousands  of 
trunks,  or  more  than  they  cost  in  the  forest.  On  the 
TorneS,  half  a  million  logs  per  year  are  now  floated, 
and  in  the  Kemi  and  its  affluent,  the  Ounasjoki,  more 
than  a  million.  From  the  upper  parts  of  these  rivers, 
as  well  as  of  the  Ijo,  Ule§,  and  other  northern  rivers, 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  logs  are  floated  at  one  mark 
and  two  marks  each,  or  even  more.  On  the  Ule&,  the 
Ule^borg  Saw-Mill  Company  has  acquired  an  actual 
monopoly,  and  it  is  not  the  only  instance  where  single 
companies  or  associations  have  been  able  to  obtain 
such  a  privilege,  to  the  loss  of  other  people  and  of  the 
government  itself  as  proprietor  of  the  forests.  The 
government  ought  to  undertake  a  series  of  works  on 
these  northern  rivers,  as  has  been  recommended  by 
the  committee  of  the  government  forests. 

Finland  has  3700  kilometres  of  coast.  It  is  there- 
fore only  natm'al  that  the  country  should  expend  a 
considerable  amount  on  lighthouses,  buoys,  and  beacons, 
as  well  as  on  pilots.  In  all  more  than  a  million  marks 
per  annum  is  spent,  besides  extraordinary  expenses. 
About  1 1 00  men  are  employed  as  pilots.  It  is  of 
great  importance  to  maintain  the  navigation  during 
the  winter  from  Abo  and  Hango  to  Sweden,  as  well  as 
to  other  countries,  and  a  good  case  for  subventions  is 


MEANS  OF  COMMUNICATION  233 

thought  to  exist,  not  only  for  the  sake  of  the  mails, 
but  also  for  the  export,  especially  of  butter,  to  England. 
By  means  of  two  powerful  ice-breakers,  bought  for 
700,000  and  1 1  million  marks,  it  is  now  possible  to 
keep  Hangii  open  the  whole  winter,  while  another  ice- 
breaker accomplishes  the  same  work  at  Abo. 

The  old  Swedish  provincial  laws  made  it  the  duty 
of  the  landholders  of  the  villages  to  build  bridges  or 
to  keep  ferries,  as  well  as  to  open  up  roads  which  were 
of  importance  to  the  whole  country  or  to  the  hiirad, 
the  parishes,  the  mills,  or  finally  to  their  own  cattle. 
They  had  to  contribute  according  to  the  value  of  their 
land.  In  a  country  so  thinly  populated  and  of  such 
large  extent  as  Finland  the  only  roads  were,  however, 
for  a  long  time  the  waterways  during  the  summer  and 
the  snow  during  the  winter.  Parliaments  and  all 
other  public  assemblies  were  always  held  near  the 
sea.  Even  in  the  south  public  messages  were  sent 
during  the  winter  by  runners  on  Scandinavian  snow- 
shoes  or  "  ski."  Later  on,  high  roads  were  made 
which,  like  the  railways  in  modern  times,  followed 
the  long  terminal  moraines  which,  on  account  of  their 
regular  character  and  stony  ground,  were  easily  trans- 
formed into  roads.  In  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century  about  2000  kilometres  of  roads  were  perhaps 
in  existence,  but  owing  to  the  subsequent  wars  it  was 
a  long  time  before  others  were  constructed.  Even  in 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  country 
only  had  about  10,000  kilometres  of  roads.  Distant 
districts  had  often  nothing  but  horse  paths  as  a  means 
of  communication  with  the  outer  Avorld,  and  on  the 
lakes  and  rivers  communication  by  boat  is  still  often 
used  instead  of  by  road.  The  people  moved,  and 
move  sometimes  still  in  the  far  interior,  in  the  same 
manner   as   the   Indians  in   Western   America,   where 


2  34  FINLAND 

they  carry  their  goods  by  means  of  two  connected 
poles  drawn  along  the  ground  by  a  horse. 

In  recent  times  the  construction  of  roads  has  been 
carried  on  in  the  same  manner  as  other  public  work 
in  Finland,  at  once  with  great  energy  and  careful 
financing.  There  are  now  about  44,000  kilometres 
of  roads,  25,000  kilometres  of  highroads,  and  19,000 
of  by-ways.  This  is  an  average  of  about  1 7  kilometres 
per  1000  inhabitants.  The  State  has  maintained  the 
old  obligation  of  the  landholders  to  construct  roads, 
but  has  assisted  them  where  it  was  necessary  to  under- 
take larger  works  in  the  public  interest,  especially  in 
bad  years  when  the  people  had  need  of  work.  The 
State  has  itself  made  roads  in  the  Lapmark,  where  the 
sparse  population  could  not  do  it,  and  where  also  the 
Crown  owns  the  largest  part  of  the  country.  It  has 
been  possible  to  make  good  roads  with  the  gravel  and 
brash  which  are  so  common  in  the  country  and  which 
equal  the  macadamised  pavements  of  other  countries. 
The  work  of  the  men  and  horses  evidently  does  not 
cost  much,  since  the  expense  of  the  highroads  is 
reckoned  at  6000  marks  and  of  the  by-ways  at  3000 
marks  per  kilometre,  and  the  whole  initial  cost  is 
about  220  million  marks  with  a  yearly  cost  of  be- 
tween  3 1  million  and  4  million  marks. 

Railways  were  only  first  decided  upon  after  the 
Crimean  War  in  1856,  when  Alexander  II.  had  become 
Emperor  and  visited  Finland.  Colonel  Alfred  Stjern- 
vall  had  earlier  proposed  a  horse  tramway  to  connect 
Helsingfors  with  the  lakes  in  Tavastland.  Herr  J.  V. 
Snellman,  the  great  patriot  and  popular  leader,  adopted 
the  idea,  and  the  plan  of  a  railway  between  Helsingfors 
and  Tavastehus  was  thereupon  drawn  up  by  Colonel 
Knut  Stjernvall,  who  later  entered  the  service  of 
Russia  and  became  Inspector-General  of  the  Russian 


MEANS  OF  COMMUNICATION  235 

Railways.  This  railway  was  constructed  in  1857-62, 
its  length  being  1 1  o  kilometres  Avith  the  Russian 
gauge  of  1.524  metre;  but  instead  of  the  calculated 
cost  of  88,000  marks  per  kilometre  the  cost  was  14^ 
millions,  or  131 ,000  marks  per  kilometre.  No  one 
yet  understood  how  to  construct  a  railway  cheaply, 
and  instead  of  obtaining  a  net  revenue  of  6  per  cent, 
it  did  not  even  pay  its  working  expenses.  The  period 
of  liberalism  had  come,  however,  and  the  political 
leaders  of  the  country  were  not  afraid  to  go  on.  In 
1867  the  Diet  voted  a  loan  of  18  million  marks  for 
a  line  connecting  this  railway  with  St.  Petersburg. 
Part  of  the  railroad  would  pass  Russian  ground,  and 
the  whole  was  of  considerable  interest  to  St.  Peters- 
burg, The  Emperor  Alexander  wanted  to  maintain 
the  Russian  gauge  in  opposition  to  the  Finlander 
engineers,  and  in  order  to  facilitate  the  work  he 
granted  a  Russian  State-loan  of  10  million  marks 
against  one-third  of  the  net  revenue.  This  sum  has 
lately  been  refunded  to  Russia,  The  line  from  Riihi- 
maki  to  St,  Petersburg  was  constructed  very  cheaply ; 
it  followed  the  moraine  of  Salpausselkti,  by  which  much 
work  was  saved.  The  line  ran  near  the  lake  of  Piii- 
janne  and  by  a  short  connection  to  Saima.  Its  length 
was  382  kilometres,  and  its  cost  only  74,000  marks 
l^er  kilometre ;  less  than  the  estimated  price.  It  was 
finished  in  1870;  but  had  to  be  reconstructed  and 
extended  in  certain  parts ;  so  that  the  whole  line 
between  Helsingfors,  Tavastehus,  and  St,  Petersburg, 
with  branches  to  the  two  other  lake-systems,  which 
had  originally  cost  42  million  marks,  now  reached  a 
total  length  of  519  kilometres  and  a  total  cost  of  6^ 
million  marks,  or  129,000  marks  per  kilometre.  It 
began  by  paying  from  3  to  4  per  cent.,  and  now  pays 
6\  per  cent. 


2  36  FINLAND 

In  the  speculative  period  after  the  Franco-German 
war  the  possibility  was  discussed  in  Finland  of  con- 
structing railways  as  private  enterprises.  The  govern- 
ment proposed  to  the  Diet  to  sell  their  railways  to  a 
private  company.  The  proposition  was  not  accepted, 
but  private  concessions  were  granted  for  railways  to 
Hango,  Borg&,  and  Abo.  The  last  was  not  constructed, 
but  the  holders  of  the  concessions  for  the  lines 
Hyvinge-Hango  and  Borg3,-Kervo  built  railways  and 
failed.  The  railroad  to  Hango  was  then  sold  to  the 
government  for  about  io|  million  marks,  or  70,000 
marks  per  kilometre  through  a  length  of  150  kilo- 
metres. The  Borga  railway  was  transferred  to  a  new 
company.  In  1874-76  the  government  itself  built 
the  Abo-Tavastehus-Tanimerfors  line,  2 1 1  kilometres, 
for  190"  million  marks,  or  92,000  marks  per  kilometre. 
It  is  only  in  recent  times  that  some  small  private  lines 
have  once  more  been  built. 

■i.  As  in  other  countries,  public  opinion  was  divided 
on  the  question  whether  the  railways  ought  to  be 
built  first  in  those  parts  of  the  country  which  most 
need  developing ;  or,  on  the  contrary,  in  those  which 
are  the  richest  and  best  populated.  The  intermediate 
course  was  chosen :  to  begin  in  Southern  Finland,  but 
to  let  the  first  lines  pass  the  interior  of  the  south, 
where  it  would  cost  less  to  build  and  whence  connections 
could  later  be  made  with  the  ports.  It  would  certainly 
have  been  more  advantageous  to  begin  connecting  the 
towns  on  the  coast,  notwithstanding  the  larger  expenses 
here  where  the  lines  could  not  follow  the  ridges  of 
gravel  and  brash — the  terminal  moraines  already 
mentioned.  Such  lines  would  have  been  more  used 
and,  in  consequence,  would  have  paid  better.  This 
last  view  was  strongly  advocated  by  Herr  Theodore 
Tallqvist  in  Finland,  and  although  his  ideas  have  not 


MEANS  OF  COMMUNICATION"  237 

been  entirely  victorious,  they  undoubtedly  had  a  favour- 
able influence  on  the  later  plans  for  constructing 
railways.  Probably  it  would  still  pay  for  the  Finnish 
government  itself  to  build  a  line  along  the  whole 
coast. 

In  1877  it  was  decided  both  to  continue  the  rail- 
way-making and  to  construct  the  lines  very  cheaply. 
For  this  reason  a  speed  of  2  5  kilometres  an  hour  and 
rails  weighing  only  22.3  kilograms  per  metre  were 
considered  sufficient.  This  price  is  not  much  more 
than  the  cheap  roads  on  the  American  pranies — 
1 1  5,000  per  English  mile,  or  i -|  kilometres.  It  was, 
however,  soon  found  necessary  to  employ  heavier 
locomotives,  and  heavier  rails  weighing  25  to  30 
kilograms  per  metre,  as  well  as  to  run  trains  at  30 
kilometres  an  hour. 

Later,  a  series  of  lines  was  constructed  in  Ostro- 
bothnia  (the  present  provinces  of  Vasa  and  Uleaborg) 
and  in  Savolaks,  these  lines  costing  from  50,000  to 
60,000  marks  per  kilometre,  or  as  much  as  70,000 
marks  in  Carelia  and  83,000  on  to  Bjorneborg.  There 
was  a  cheaper  line  in  the  interior  from  Jyvaskyla  to 
Suolahti  costing  68,000  marks,  and  finally  a  more 
expensive  more  direct  line  to  Abo,  while  at  the  same 
time  a  line  was  constructed  in  the  interior  from  Kuopio 
to  lisalmi,  and  another  in  the  north  from  Uledboro-  to 
Torne^  is  under  construction.  During  the  last  decade 
5  to  7  million  marks  per  annum  have  been  spent  on 
railways.  In  the  present  interval  between  two  Diets 
(four  years)  the  Estates  wanted  to  use  a  much  larger 
amount,  and  voted  for  this  purpose  a  loan  of  3  5  million 
marks,  but  the  government  has  decreased  the  sum  to 
25  millions. 

At  the  end  of  1899  the  government  railways  had 
a  total  length  of  265  i  kilometres  buiii  for  a  total  cost 


238  FINLAND 

of  250,780,000  marks,  or  about  94,000  marks  per  kilo- 
metre. Half  of  this  amount  was  procured  by  loans, 
half  paid  out  of  the  current  revenue.  This  is  an 
average  of  0.7  kilometre  per  100  square  kilometres, 
that  is  to  say,  about  the  same  proportion  as  in  Russia ; 
where,  however,  the  largest  portion  of  the  railways  is 
located  much  farther  south.  It  is  more  than  in  Norway, 
but  only  one-third  of  the  proportionate  railway  mileage 
in  Sweden,  and  of  course  much  less  than  in  the  other 
more  advanced  and  better  populated  countries,  among 
which  Belgium,  for  example,  has  as  much  as  one  kilo- 
metre of  railway  lines  in  less  than  6  square  kilometres. 
In  proportion  to  the  number  of  inhabitants,  there  are 
in  Finland  10.4  kilometres  per  thousand  inhabitants. 
This  is  about  equal  to  Denmark,  France,  and  Germany. 
Only  Sweden  has  much  more — about  double  the  pro- 
portionate railway  mileage  of  Finland.  The  proportion 
is  inferior  in  Norway,  as  well  as  in  countries  such  as 
Great  Britain  and  Belgium.  The  proportion  is  much 
less  in  Russia,  although  here,  too,  the  population  is 
rather  scanty  in  the  greater  part  of  the  country. 

Of  private  railroads  there  are  now  about  200  kilo- 
metres, the  most  important  being  branch  lines  from 
some  of  the  lesser  towns  on  the  coast  to  the  govern- 
ment lines,  with  the  same  gauge  as  these.  There  are 
also  one  or  two  short,  less  expensive,  narrow-gauge 
lines  to  some  of  the  large  works  and  factories.  Such 
roads  will  probably  continue  to  be  constructed  as  private 
enterprises,  but  the  government  ought  to  build  more 
along  the  coast  in  the  populous  part  of  the  country. 

The  passenger  and  goods  traffic  varies  in  volume. 
While  the  northern  part  of  the  Carelian  line  has  only 
14,000  kilometres  of  journeys  per  annum,  the  line  from 
St.  Petersburg  to  the  summer  resorts  has  i|  million. 
Among  the  more  important  lines  the  proportion  varies 


MEANS  OF  COMMUNICATION  239 

from  23,000  on  the  Uleaborg  line,  and  25,000  on  the 
Hango  line,  to  66,000  on  the  Abo  line,  and  173,000 
on  the  Helsingfors-Tavastehus  line.  As  always,  the 
larger  volume  of  traflfic  is  nearest  the  towns. 

The  goods  traffic  varies  in  the  same  manner,  being 
as  much  as  313,000  kilometre-tons  near  St.  Peters- 
burg, 307,000  near  Helsingfors,  and  only  10,000  to 
14,000  on  the  lines  Bjorneborg  and  Uleaborg,  31,000 
in  Savolaks,  32,000  in  Carelia.  35,000  in  Vasa,  57,000 
on  the  Hango  line,  and,  finally,  103,000  on  the  Abo 
line,  and  1 70,000  on  the  whole  Helsingfors-Tavastehus- 
St.  Petersburg  line.  Most  of  the  goods  traffic  goes  to 
the  ports,  since  Finland,  as  we  have  said,  is  exporting 
much  heavier  goods  than  it  imports.  On  the  Hango 
line  butter  forms  about  half  of  the  whole  of  the  croods 

o 

traffic ;  and  throughout  the  whole  country  lumber  re- 
presents half  of  the  total. 

Interesting  experiences  have  followed  decreases  in 
the  fares.  A  lowering  of  the  tariff  of  1886  at  once 
produced  a  good  result,  and  it  was  therefore  continued. 
The  third-class  passenger  fares  have  been  decreased  by 
20  per  cent.,  the  second-class  by  17,  the  first  by  10 
per  cent.  At  the  same  time  a  rebate  of  5  per  cent, 
per  100  kilometres  is  given  for  longer  journeys,  and 
circular  and  return  tickets  have  been  introduced,  with 
the  result  that  a  third-class  return  ticket  for  1000 
kilometres,  for  instance,  is  reduced  by  46  per  cent. 
Also  the  goods  tariff  has  been  decreased.  The  result 
has  been,  as  in  Hungary  when  the  zone  tarifi"  was 
introduced,  a  considerable  increase  in  the  use  of  the 
railroads,  and  also  a  largely  increased  gross  revenue. 
The  passenger  traffic  increased  during  the  period 
1896-8  from  7,194,000  marks  to  8,977,000  ;  the  goods 
traffic  from  10,483,000  to  12,776,000  marks.  The 
increase  was  so  considerable  that  there  was  not  sufficient 


240  FINLAND 

rolling-stock  to  carry  it.  Expenses  increased  in  the 
period  1895-8  from  10,120,000  marks  to  14,386,000 
marks;  the  gross  revenue  from  15,456,000  to 
22,004,000  marks;  or  42  per  cent,  in  both  cases. 
If,  however,  we  compare  1896  and  1898,  the  revenue 
increased  only  23  per  cent,  against  34  per  cent,  in- 
crease in  the  expenses.  For  1899  we  have,  however, 
again  2  5  million  gross  revenue  and  1 7|  million  ex- 
penses. It  is,  of  course,  in  the  public  interest  that 
communication  should  be  facilitated  even  if  the  govern- 
ment does  not  gain  by  it,  so  long  as  it  does  not  actually 
lose  money.  The  railways  are  of  especially  great  im- 
portance for  national  industry,  because  the  goods  traflfic 
in  Finland,  as  in  the  United  States,  holds  a  much  more 
important  place  compared  to  the  passenger  traffic  than 
is  the  case  in  manufacturing  countries,  where  there  is 
not  so  great  a  mass  of  raw  products  to  transport  to 
the  ports. 

The  net  revenue  of  the  lines  varies.  It  was  said 
that  it  decreased  during  certain  periods  in  consequence 
of  the  extension ;  but  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say 
that  this  was  a  result  of  construction  in  more  distant 
parts  of  the  country.  Another  influence  is,  however, 
exercised  by  the  above-mentioned  periodical  fluctua- 
tions in  all  kinds  of  business.  In  1870  the  net 
revenue  per  kilometre  was  1700  marks;  in  1880  it 
was  3101  marks;  in  1895  it  was  only  2300  marks; 
and  in  1897,  when  the  cheaper  tariff  was  introduced 
after  May  i,  it  was  3000  marks.  One  year  after  the 
construction  of  the  line  to  St.  Petersburg  hardly  2  per 
cent,  was  paid  on  the  expended  capital;  in  1874,  a 
good  year,  it  was  over  4;  but  in  1878  it  was  only  1.7. 
Again  in  1882  it  was  nearly  4,  but  after  the  con- 
struction of  the  Vasa  line,  it  was  less  than  3  ;  in  1883 
3.6  ;  after  the  addition  of  the  Uleaborg  line  in  1886-7 


MEANS  OF  COMMUNICATION  241 

only  2I;  again  3.3;  in  1892,  after  a  bad  harvest,  it 
was  down  to  2^;  in  1896-7  again  3.6.  Thereafter 
there  was  great  progress,  but  at  the  end  of  1900  the 
progress  ceased. 

It  is  an  important  argument  for  the  construction 
and  working  of  railways  by  the  government  that  the 
same  net  income  can  be  produced  in  different  ways. 
A  greater  traffic  with  larger  expenses  is  evidently 
advantageous  to  the  people  if  only  the  net  income 
does  not  decrease.  In  enterprises  such  as  railways 
there  is  always  a  large  amount  of  public  profit  which 
does  not  appear  in  the  interest  on  the  capital  or  as 
individual  profit.  It  is  impossible  to  arrange  a  tariff 
to  pay  for  all  the  advantages  obtained ;  in  the  case  of 
some  persons  the  advantage  does  not  much  exceed 
what  they  pay,  while  it  becomes  much  more  consider- 
able in  other  cases.  This  is  not  peculiar  to  railways; 
it  is  more  or  less  the  case  in  all  economical  enterprises. 
The  existence  of  much  good  service  which  is  not  paid 
for  is,  however,  more  prominent  in  an  enterprise  such 
as  a  railway,  where  as  a  rule  there  is  no  great  equalising 
of  prices  brought  about  by  a  number  of  competitors. 
The  railway  has  always  more  or  less  a  monopoly, 
because  a  considerable  profit  is  necessary  before  it 
becomes  practicable,  even  where  there  is  no  hindrance 
through  legislation,  to  construct  a  competing  line 
alongside  the  one  first  constructed.  In  its  character 
of  a  monopoly  the  railway  is  always  to  some  extent 
arbitrary,  the  working  and  the  tarift  being  arranged 
for  the  sake  of  private  profit,  whether  the  net  profit  is 
obtained  by  more  or  less  gross  profit.  This  character 
of  a  natural  monopoly  renders  it  very  necessary  that 
some  public  authority  should  have  control  over  the 
railway,  and  that  it  should  at  least  settle  the  tariff 
even  if  it  does  not  itself  construct  and  work  the  line. 


242  FINLAND 

The  question  whether,  in  a  country  like  Finland, 
the  government  ought  to  build  the  larger  lines  or  not, 
was  decided  by  the  simple  fact  that  the  capital  could 
not  possibly  be  obtained  in  any  other  manner,  or  at 
least  not  so  cheaply  as  by  the  credit  of  the  State. 
And  Finland  had  a  class  of  officials  capable  and  honest 
enough  to  carry  through  such  an  enterprise.  Com- 
mon sense,  therefore,  determined  the  action  of  the 
government  in  this  case. 

To  turn  now  to  the  postal  system.  Its  earliest 
beginning  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  "  budkafle " 
("  budstikke "  in  Danish  -  Norwegian),  a  stick  with 
signs  on  it  by  which  the  words  of  the  king,  as  well  as 
messages  about  acts  of  violence,  were  sent  round  to 
the  villages  and  towns.  If  the  stick  was  burned  at 
one  end  and  tied  with  a  string  at  the  other  it  told  of 
an  attack  by  the  enemy.  The  police  ordinance  for 
the  villages  as  late  as  1742  contained  detailed  rules 
for  the  despatch  of  this  post,  and  it  may  still  be  used 
in  the  case  of  a  great  forest  fire.  The  first  real  post 
was  organised  by  the  Swedes,  who  in  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  had  seen  a  post  organised  in  Germany  by  the 
family  of  Taxis.  This  family,  as  will  be  remembered, 
was  at  the  head  of  the  German  post  until  quite 
recent  times,  when  it  was  seen  that  United  Germany 
was  able  to  take  better  care  of  its  post  than  a  great 
number  of  independent  princes  could  do.  German 
experience  suggested  the  organisation  carried  out  in 
Sweden  in  1636,  which  was  at  first  connected  with 
the  publication  of  an  official  journal,  Tidningar  och 
Avisor,  this  journal  being  still  continued  under  the 
name  of  Post  -  och  Inrikestidniiigar.  The  peasant 
farmers  who  were  obliged  to  carry  the  post  got  a 
reduction  in  their  taxes.  During  the  winter  the  post 
was  regularly  carried  roimd  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia. 


MEANS  OF  COMMUNICATION  243 

Modern  postal  reform — that  is,  a  uniform  tariff  ac- 
cording to  the  system  of  Rowland  Hill — was  tried  for 
three  years,  beginning  in  1 844  as  an  experiment  with 
letters  in  Finland  and  to  St.  Petersburg,  the  charge 
being  10  kopeks  per  Russian  oimce  for  small  letters 
and  20  for  larger  sizes.  From  1850  the  tariff  in  Fin- 
land was  5  kopeks  for  i  2  5  versts  ( 1 44  kilometres)  and 
10  kopeks  for  longer  distances.  Stamps  were  only 
introduced  in  1856  as  an  experiment  for  two  years, 
and  were  finally  adopted  in  1857,  at  the  same  time 
that  they  were  introduced  into  Russia.  Letter-boxes 
were  also  introduced  then.  In  the  sixties  the  whole 
modern  postal  system  was  in  force. 

The  increase  of  postal  matter  has  been  consider- 
able, as  in  most  other  countries,  growing  from  8| 
millions  in  1881  to  31  millions  in  1897.  In  ten 
years,  1891-1900,  the  increase  was  125  per  cent., 
the  largest  increase  being  in  wrappers,  parcels,  and 
postal  cards.  There  was  also  a  considerable  in- 
crease in  letters  and  newspapers,  the  smallest  in- 
crease being  in  free  official  communications.  Letters 
and  postal  cards  increased  in  the  period  1888-97 
from  2.4  to  5.2  per  head,  and  all  postal  matter  from 
6.^  to  12.3  per  head.  The  net  profit  made  by  the 
government,  besides  free  official  communication,  was 
in  1897  one-third,  in  1898  half  a  million  marks. 

In  1890  the  transfer  of  the  post  to  the  Russian 
Minister  of  the  Interior  and  the  Russian  Direction  of 
Posts  and  Telegraphs  was  decreed,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  this  was  contrary  to  the  constitution  of  Fin- 
land. Finland  has  still  really  its  own  post,  but  modem 
reforms  have  been  stopped.  Especially  an  excessive 
tariff  of  20  and  50  penni  is  maintained  for  letters 
and  postal  orders,  and  when  the  Diet  asked  for  a 
decrease    the    Emperor    answered,    according    to    the 


244  FINLAND 

recommendation  of  the  Governor-General,  that  he 
would  not  allow  Finland  to  decrease  its  tariff  as 
long  as  Russia  could  not  decrease  her  tariff!  The 
wizening  hand  is  laid  on  this  department  of  the 
administration.  Recently  the  introduction  of  Russian 
stamps  was  the  occasion  of  a  considerable  com- 
motion in  Finland,  although  it  was  so  arranged  that 
Finland  still  keeps  her  own  postal  revenue. 

Just  as  the  peasants  were  obliged  to  carry  messages 
and,  later,  the  post,  so  they  had  also  to  furnish 
horses  to  travellers.  Peasants  who  were  under  this 
obligation,  and  also  kept  inns  for  the  travellers,  had 
their  taxes  reduced.  For  a  long  time  the  pay  was 
very  low,  and  the  obligation  was  regarded  as  a  heavy 
burden,  which  was  transferred  in  regular  order  from 
one  farmer  to  another.  Now  the  pay  is  somewhat 
higher.  After  the  construction  of  the  railways  the 
postal  roads  were  less  used,  and  where  there  is  much 
traffic  the  horsing  of  travellers  is  most  often  under- 
taken by  private  persons  under  an  arrangement  with 
the  government. 

The  old  "  optical "  telegraph  from  Sweden  to  Finland 
was  established  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century 
for  military  defence.  It  was  re-established  by  the 
Russian  Government  during  the  Crimean  War ;  and 
in  1854,  when  its  defects  became  manifest,  the  Em- 
peror Nicholas  ordered  the  Russian  Minister  of  Com- 
nmnications  to  arrange  an  electric  telegraph  between 
St.  Petersburg  and  Helsingfors.  This  was  at  once 
taken  in  hand  by  the  Berlin  house  of  Siemens  and 
Halske,  It  was  only  after  the  war  that  the  telegraph 
was  open  to  the  public.  In  1856  telegraphing  to 
other  countries  in  German  was  permitted ;  and  in 
1858,  after  the  cities  of  Helsingfors,  Abo,  and  Viborg 
had  declared  their  willingness  to  contribute,  telegraph- 


MEANS  OF  COMMUNICATION  245 

ing  on  the  line  St.  Petersburg-Abo-Helsingfors  was 
permitted  in  Swedish.  As  neither  the  Russian  Tele- 
graph Direction  nor  the  Finnish  Senate  would  incur 
new  expenses,  a  private  company  proposed  to  take 
over  the  telegraph,  but  as  this  proposition  was  not 
approved,  the  Emperor  Alexander  finally  allowed  the 
establishment  of  a  line  to  Tornea,  on  condition  that  the 
towns  contributed  to  the  expense.  The  demand  of  the 
Diet  in  1863  for  a  public  or  private  telegraph  system 
for  Finland  was  rejected,  but  was  the  occasion  of  a 
decrease  in  the  tariff.  Progress  came  later  from  par- 
ticipation in  the  general  Em*opean  telegraph  confer- 
ences, and  cables  to  Sweden  have  been  laid  by  the 
Great  Northern  Telegraph  Company.  In  1899  there 
were  4900  kilometres  of  lines,  and  in  1898  about 
2  million  telegrams  passed  over  them,  of  which,  how- 
ever, less  than  400,000  were  inland  messages,  and  less 
than  200,000  came  from  other  countries  to  Finland, 
whilst  about  i^  million  passed  the  lines  en  route  to 
other  countries.  The  telegraph  tariff  is  in  several 
respects  too  high,  and  in  the  whole  country  there  are 
only  sixty-six  telegraph  offices.  Legally,  the  position  of 
the  Russian  telegraph  in  Finland  is  about  the  same  as 
that  of  a  private  company,  just  as  the  railway  owned  by 
the  Finnish  Government  on  Russian  soil  has  about 
the  same  position  in  Russia  as  a  Russian  private 
railway. 

Finland  has  its  own  telegraph  along  the  railways. 
At  the  end  of  1898  there  were  about  4400  kilometres 
with  204  offices. 

Possibly  it  is  a  consequence  of  the  Russian  tele- 
graph restrictions,  or  more  possibly  an  expression  of 
the  vigour  with  which  the  Finlanders  have  recently 
kept  pace  with  modern  progress,  that  the  telephone 
has  come  into  use  in  the  most  extraordinary  manner 


246  FINLAND 

in  Finland,  even  more  remarkably  than  in  Sweden 
and  Norway.  This  has  chiefly  been  possible  because 
no  patents  or  monopoHes  have  hindered  its  develop- 
ment. The  Senate  gives  concessions  to  companies  as 
well  as  to  private  persons.  A  Swedish  company  de- 
cided in  1880  to  introduce  a  telephone  with  American 
instruments  into  Helsingfors,  but  it  was  only  in  the 
summer  of  1882  that  the  necessary  hundred  subscribers 
joined,  and  a  beginning  could  really  take  place.  A 
telephone  was  already  installed  in  Abo  with  Swedish 
Ericsson  instruments,  and  only  thirty  subscribers.  The 
telephone  is  now  found  everywhere,  even  in  the 
country;  in  1898  there  were  300  centrals.  A  com- 
pany for  connecting  the  towns  in  southern  Finland 
was  established  in  1894,  ^^^  introduced  everywhere 
double  wires  between  the  towns,  on  lines  which,  at  the 
end  of  1898,  extended  over  4700  kilometres.  Other 
companies  have  been  formed  for  connecting  the  towns 
in  other  parts  of  the  country.  The  telephone  is  very 
cheap ;  it  costs  ten  marks  per  annum  in  Mariehamn 
on  Aland,  where  there  is  a  telephone  for  every  nine 
persons,  and  20  marks  in  Nykarleby;  elsewhere  it 
varies  from  30  to  75  marks,  though  in  Helsingfors 
it  costs  60  and  102  marks,  and  in  Viborg  85  and 
100  marks.  The  use  of  the  telephone  has  entered 
thoroughly  into  the  daily  life  of  the  people,  and  it  now 
holds  an  important  place  in  the  economic  as  well  as  in 
the  social  and  intellectual  existence  of  the  nation. 


CHAPTER    X 

THE    EXCHEQUER   AND   CIVIC   DUTIES 

In  no  country  in  Europe  is  the  financial  situation 
better  than  in  Finland.  The  country  is  not  burdened 
by  very  heavy  taxes,  all  public  departments  are  well 
taken  care  of,  and  there  is  a  good  balance  on  the 
budget.  There  are  also  large  reserve  funds  of  different 
kinds,  and  the  Finnish  State  owns  a  considerable 
extent  of  productive  properties  worth  several  times 
more  than  the  inconsiderable  public  debt,  a  debt  which 
has  been  entirely  incurred  for  productive  purposes. 
Apart  from  external  disturbances,  the  future  of  the 
country  is  assured.  The  State  economy  has  been  still 
better  than  the  private ;  the  present  situation  is  good, 
and  the  condition  of  the  finances  permits  all  desirable 
reforms. 

Constitutional  reasons  account  for  the  peculiarly 
complicated  form  of  Finland's  budget.  The  Sovereign, 
without  the  co-operation  of  the  Diet,  applies  all  per- 
manent public  revenue  to  the  normal  necessities  of  the 
State,  while  the  Diet  votes  other  public  expenses,  for 
which  taxes  imposed  for  a  limited  period  or  pubHc 
loans  are  necessary.  The  budget  voted  by  the  Estates 
embraces  a  period  of  three,  four,  or,  at  the  utmost,  five 
years,  i.e.  the  interval  between  the  sessions  of  the  Diet, 
including  the  first  year  after  a  session  as  well  as  the 
year  of  the  next  session.  Notwithstanding  the  budget 
arrangement  of  separate  funds  and  departments,  the 

estimates  made   by   the   Division   of   Finance   of  the 

247 


248 


FINLAND 


Senate  and  the  Committee  of  Finance  (i.e.  of  Ways 
and  Means,  Supply  and  Appropriation),  embrace  the 
total  revenue  and  expenses  of  the  State.  The  decision 
of  the  Estates  as  to  the  grants  which  they  shall  vote 
is  based  on  the  estimate  made  by  this  committee  of 
the  ordinary  revenue  and  its  sufficiency  to  meet  the 
expenses,  while  the  statement  presented  by  the  com- 
mittee at  the  end  of  each  Diet  contains  also  a  budget 
for  the  whole  period,  giving  a  perfect  insight  into  the 
entire  financial  situation. 

Of  the  budget  for  the  period    190 1-4  we  give  the 
following  averages  for  each  of  these  years : — 


Total  of  the  ordinary  average  yearly  revenue, 
therein  being  comprised  the  voted  taxes, 
is  estimated  at         ....         . 

Grants  voted  for  this  period  alone  for  railway 
construction,  total  35  million,  or  per 
annum    ....... 

Surplus  from  the  preceding  financial  period,  to 
be  used  yearly  ..... 

Grand  total 

The  ordinary  expenses,  comprising  interest  and 
amortisation  of  the  public  debt,  Avere  esti- 
mated at  ...... 

Extraordinary  expenses,  including  an  estimate 
for  construction  of  railroads  of  22 
marks,  estimated  at 

Grand  total 


I  million 


Marks. 
70,273,000 

8,750,000 

4,634,000 
83,657,000 

57,959jOoo 

25.32S»ooo 

83,284,000 


In  this  budget  the  government  has  made  one 
alteration,  that  the  expenditure  on  railways  should  be 
decreased,  and  the  loan  made  for  this  purpose  be 
decreased  by  10  million  marks.  Some  minor  lines 
and  subventions  to  other  minor  lines  were  not 
approved  of. 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     249 

Of  the  ordinary  revenue  the  taxes  yield  48^  miUions, 
or  69  per  cent. ;  income  of  capital  and  other  property, 
railways,  canals,  and  public  enterprises,  2  of  millions, 
or  29.5  per  cent.;  divers  revenue,  1.5  per  cent.  The 
most  important  taxes  are  the  custom  duties,  estimated 
at  3  2  millions,  which  is  a  low  estimate ;  thereafter  the 
excise  on  alcohoL  6|  millions;  taxes  on  land,  3I; 
personal  taxes,  2,100,000;  stamp  taxes,  1,700,000; 
malt  tax  under  one  million  (a  rather  low  estimate)  ; 
duties  on  the  sawmills,  or  rather  on  exported  lumber, 
under  half  a  million ;  finally,  some  less  considerable 
taxes,  payment  for  passports,  and  other  minor  fees. 

Among  the  revenue  derived  from  Government 
property  and  enterprises  the  surplus  of  the  railroads 
is  the  most  important,  averaging  9.300,000  marks; 
the  gross  revenue  of  the  large  government  forests  is 
estimated  very  low,  at  2f  millions ;  gross  profit  on  the 
post,  3,800,000;  gross  profit  on  the  canals,  525,000; 
interest-bearing  funds,  1,300,000.  Of  the  Bank  of 
Finland's  surplus  the  Diet  appropriates  900,000 
marks  per  annum.  The  gross  profit  system  is  correct 
as  concerns  the  statement  of  all  real  public  expenses, 
but  it  is  hardly  correct  not  to  deduct  the  expenses  of 
enterprises  in  which  the  government  is  acting  rather 
as  a  private  trader. 

A  good  impression  is  created  by  a  study  of  the 
public  expenses,  especially  of  the  large  amount  applied 
to  further  general  intellectual  and  material  develop- 
ment. More  than  one  million  is  put  down  as  re- 
imbursement of  public  duties,  from  the  custom-house, 
&c.  The  superior  administration  costs  about  2  millions, 
among  which  may  be  noted  some  hundreds  of  thousands 
disposed  of  by  the  Emperor  personally.  Hardly  3^ 
millions  are  expended  by  the  Department  of  Justice, 
including    lA    million   for  the  prisons.      Some  of  the 


2SO  FINLAND 

expenses  for  the  courts,  however,  pass  through  the 
Communes,  and  not  through  the  State  treasury.  The 
financial  administration,  especially  the  expenses  of  the 
custom-house,  demands  2 1  millions ;  the  custom- 
house rather  less  than  in  most  other  countries.  The 
civil  administration  requires  6|  millions,  including  over 
2  millions  for  sanitary  purposes.  Among  other  special 
expenses  may  be  noted  the  large  amounts  already 
mentioned  as  paid  for  the  post  and  the  administration 
of  the  forests ;  to  which,  as  we  have  suggested,  an 
even  larger  amount  might  be  applied  profitably.  Of 
great  interest  are  the  considerable  sums  paid  to  the 
pubhc  schools,  which  together  with  grants  to  the 
Church  amount  to  over  10  millions.  Only  half  a 
million  of  this  is  paid  to  the  Lutheran  State  Church, 
which  obtains  most  of  its  resources  from  the  congrega- 
tions ;  and  about  one  million  is  granted  to  the  University. 
Ihe  balance  of  the  budget  for  the  general  Department 
of  Instruction  is  now  about  8  millions,  of  which  4 
millions  yearly  go  to  the  elementary  schools.  Manu- 
factures and  commerce  get  over  2f  millions,  including 
half  a  million  for  technical  schools,  of  whose  expenses 
the  Communes  pay  the  larger  part.  Agriculture  and 
matters  connected  with  it  obtain  3  millions,  in  which 
are  included  grants  to  agricultural  schools,  measures 
in  the  interest  of  creameries  and  dairies,  contributions 
to  the  economic  societies,  &c.  Relatively  moderate 
sums  are  applied  to  military  defence  and  the  payment 
of  interest  on  debt.  In  most  other  countries,  where 
the  debt  is  generally  the  result  of  old  wars,  these 
two  items  absorb  two-thirds  of  the  total  State  ex- 
penses. In  Finland  the  ordinary  amount  voted  for 
military  defence  is  only  6|  millions ;  for  the  debt, 
including  some  amortisation,  a  little  more  than  6 
millions.     We  may  further  mention  that  the  State  of 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     251 

Finland  is  comparatively  liberal  in  pensions  to  its 
officials,  the  sum  for  which,  together  with  amounts 
paid  in  cases  of  death  to  widows  and  children  as  well 
as  contributions  to  a  fund  for  these  latter,  is  about  2 
millions.  Certain  of  the  expenses  might  be  criticised, 
none  more  severely  than  the  100,000  marks  expended 
on  the  censorship  of  publications,  especially  the  press. 
But,  on  the  whole,  this  budget  will  bear  comparison 
with  those  of  other  countries,  both  by  its  good  economy 
and  its  intelligent  liberality. 

The  total  debt  of  Finland  in  1899  was  only  115 
millions,  or  about  half  of  what  the  railways  have  cost 
and  are  worth  according  to  their  revenue.  Of  this 
i^  million  is  the  balance  of  the  first  loan  from  Russia 
in  1859;  2^  millions  the  balance  of  the  railway  loan 
of  1868  arranged  with  Erlanger  &  Sons  as  premium 
loan;  38J  millions  the  balance  of  a  loan  of  1889  from 
Bleichroder  and  others  at  32  per  cent.  The  debt  also 
includes  about  172"  millions  at  3^  per  cent,  borrowed 
in  1895,  and  about  55  millions  at  3  per  cent,  (closed 
in  1898),  both  borrowed  through  the  Bank  of  Finland 
from  the  Credit  Lyonnais,  the  Banque  de  Paris  et  des 
Pays-Bas,  the  Union  Bank  and  the  Northern  Joint- 
Stock  Bank  in  Finland,  the  Stockholms  Enskilda 
Bank,  the  Danish  Landmandsbank,  Behrens  &  Sohne 
in  Hamburg,  and  the  Deutsche  Bank  and  the  Dresd- 
ner  Bank  in  Berlin.  Finally,  there  is  a  loan  of  25 
millions  arranged  in  1901  at  3^  per  cent,  with  the 
same  banks. 

The  method  of  voting  supply  must  be  mentioned  in 
order  to  understand  the  budget  and  the  accounts.  In 
itself  there  is  not  much  to  say  against  the  exemption 
of  regular  revenue  from  the  votes  of  the  Estates.  They 
have  influence  enough  in  so  far  as  their  consent  is  re- 
quired for  now  demands,  this  being  always  necessary 


3  52  FINLAND 

But,  as  we  have  said,  there  was  this  weak  point  in  the 
old  Swedish  constitution  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  that  the  government  could  increase  the  cus- 
toms tariff  without  asking  the  Estates,  so  that  the 
whole  of  this  important  department  was  outside  their 
influence.  This  restriction  has  been  severely  felt  in 
modern  Finland,  and  might  impair  the  efficient  co- 
operation of  the  estates  with  the  government  in  public 
affairs.  It  is  chiefly  in  consequence  of  historical 
conditions  that  the  budget  is  divided  into  separate 
funds.  The  large  portion  controlled  by  the  Crown 
only  is  called  the  General  State  Fund.  The  other 
portion,  which  is  decided  by  the  co-operation  of  the 
Diet,  is  again  divided  into  three  parts — (i)  the  so- 
called  Voted  Fund,  consisting  of  the  taxes  voted  only 
provisionally,  the  appropriated  part  of  the  profit  of  the 
Bank  of  Finland,  and  sometimes  a  contribution  from 
the  General  State  Fund,  from  which  the  expenses  of 
the  elementary  schools  and  a  contribution  to  mili- 
tary defence  are  paid ;  (2)  the  Military  Fund,  consisting 
of  the  land  taxes  and  rent  of  land  which  was  used  for 
the  old  army  under  the  military  tenure  system,  and  of 
sums  voted  specially  by  the  Diet;  (3)  the  Fund 
for  the  Means  of  Communication ;  this  is  not  what 
is  called  a  capitalised  fund,  or  a  fund  which  has 
its  own  capital ;  it  is  only  for  the  purpose  of  giving  to 
the  railroad  construction  a  financial  basis  independent 
of  the  other  parts  of  the  budget  or  of  the  economy  of 
the  State.  Under  this  fund  is  included  as  expenditure 
the  interest  and  amortisation  of  the  railway  loans,  and 
the  estimated  expenses  of  construction ;  and  as  revenue 
the  net  income  of  the  railways,  the  larger  part  of  the 
tax  on  alcohol,  and  the  new  loans  for  railway  con- 
struction. 

The  estimate  of  the  ordinary  revenues  belonging  to 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     253 

the  General  State  Fund,  of  which  the  government 
alone  disposes,  has  always  been  made  with  such  great 
caution  that  during  the  last  few  decades  the  actual 
revenues  have  regularly  and  considerably  exceeded  the 
budget  estimate.  According  to  a  regular  practice,  the 
government,  as  it  begins  to  foresee  the  real  surplus  of 
the  year,  decides  the  extraordinary  expenses  which  are 
needed,  as,  for  instance,  public  buildings,  work  on  the 
canals,  &c.,  but  considerable  sums  have  also  been  put 
aside  as  separate  funds  for  different  purposes.  The 
most  important  is  the  General  State  Reserve,  which  in 
1898  amounted  to  7|  million  marks,  placed  in  easily 
saleable  foreign  bonds.  It  is  destined,  in  case  of  war 
or  other  misfortunes,  to  make  up  possible  deficiencies 
in  the  revenue.  The  largest  fund,  however,  is  the 
Loan  Fund,  amounting  to  over  i6h  millions;  it  grants 
loans  to  be  repaid  in  rates  to  the  Communes,  also  to 
shipowners  and  manufacturers.  Among  the  larger 
funds  are  also  the  "  Assistance  Fund  "  of  3I  millions,  a 
special  reserve  fund  to  help  poor  Communes  in  years 
of  famine.  The  oldest  is  the  Military  Fund  of  about 
10  millions,  the  interest  of  which  is  used  for  mili- 
tary pensions.  Besides  these,  there  are  a  number  of 
minor  funds,  such  as  the  Fund  for  Loans  to  Dairies, 
a  fund  for  taking  care  of  orphans  and  waifs, 
another  to  pension  teachers  in  elementary  schools, 
&c.  The  total  amount  of  these  "  capitalised  funds " 
was  in  1898  about  45  million  marks.  They  are 
managed  by  the  Treasury  Office,  which,  under  the 
control  of  the  Finance  Division  of  the  Senate,  places 
the  funds  in  governinent  bonds,  Finnish  or  foreign, 
or  deposits  them  in  the  banks,  where,  according  to 
the  rules  for  such  special  funds,  the  capital  may 
be  lent  out.  When  the  question  arose  of  retaining 
those  funds,  the  elder  Rothschild  was  quoted  as  saying 


2  54  FINLAND 

that  "  a  number  of  separate  funds  did  not  exactly 
make  any  man  poor."  Formerly  very  large  amounts 
appear  to  have  been  standing  in  very  accessible  form, 
especially  as  deposits  in  the  banks. 

Partly  by  ordinance  of  1899,  which  came  into 
force  at  the  beginning  of  1901,  and  partly  at  an 
earlier  period,  the  public  finances  have  been  com- 
pletely centralised.  They  are  separated  in  the  books 
and  not  in  the  Treasury,  which  contains  now  the 
proceeds  of  the  different  funds,  of  which  a  common 
cash  account  is  kept.  The  University  has  its  own 
cashier,  but  for  the  ordinary  departments  everything 
not  needed  for  current  expenses  is  paid  into  the 
common  current  account  of  the  general  Treasury, 
and  no  separate  office  may  from  day  to  day  keep 
more  than  50,000  marks.  On  this  common  account 
payment-orders  are  made  by  the  general  Treasury 
as  well  as  by  the  provincial  governors'  ofl&ces,  these 
later  on  sending  into  the  general  Treasury  specified 
statements  of  what  they  have  paid  in  and  taken 
out.  This  rule  is  followed  everywhere  where  a  separate 
account  is  kept,  and  if  the  Bank  of  Finland  has  no 
branch  office  at  a  place,  the  money  is  paid  into  a 
private  bank.  At  all  offices,  as,  for  instance,  those 
of  the  railways,  of  the  post,  the  University,  and  the 
Finnish  passport  office  in  St.  Petersburg,  the  cash 
account  is  audited  at  least  once  a  month.  By  means 
of  this  new  order,  which  was  in  preparation  for  more 
than  ten  years,  since  1888,  and  which  is  now  finally 
in  force,  it  is  believed  that  a  financial  organisation 
has  been  obtained  as  good  as  that  of  modern  con- 
stitutional States  with  their  budget  and  accounts. 
Statements  have  to  be  handed  in  early  enough  to 
be  prepared  and  included  in  the  budget.  The  budget 
may  not  be  exceeded  without  special  permission  from 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     255 

the  government,  that  is  from  the  Economic  Depart- 
ment of  the  Senate.  The  calendar  year  is  reckoned 
as  the  financial  year,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year 
all  accounts  of  cash  and  materials  are  closed.  What 
has  not  been  used  in  the  course  of  the  year  cannot 
be  used  later,  or  for  other  purposes,  except  where 
the  amount  has  not  been  given  for  certain  definite 
uses,  or  is  expressly  reserved  for  an  object  not  con- 
fined to  the  year ;  and  even  in  this  case  it  is  not 
allowable  to  use  more  than  half  of  what  was  given 
for  the  preceding  year.  The  books  must  be  closed 
before  the  following  March,  and  sent  in  before  May 
for  audit.  In  closing  them  the  budget  estimate  is 
strictly  followed. 

Besides  the  government  funds  we  may  mention 
a  group  of  local  funds  established  for  public  use. 
The  total  of  these  at  the  end  of  1898  was  not  less 
than  40I  million  marks,  of  which  over  24^  millions 
were  in  the  towns,  and  less  than  16  millions  in  the 
country.  Funds  amounting  altogether  to  22  millions 
exist  to  give  assistance  of  different  kinds :  8  millions 
as  a  fund  for  pensions;  7|  for  the  poor;  2^  for  help 
of  a  general  character;  3  for  hospitals  and  nursing, 
1 1  for  sailors;  also  funds  of  more  than  2f  millions  for 
Church  purposes  ;  a  fund  of  4f  millions  for  schools 
and  libraries  ;  i  ^  million  for  scholarships  ;  3  millions 
for  agriculture;  3I  millions  for  forestry;  and  about 
1 1  million  for  constructing  roads  and  bridges,  estab- 
lishing gardens,  plantations.  &c.  Besides  these  funds, 
there  are  pension  funds  ainounting  to  31:}  millions 
for  widows  and  orphans  and  for  difterent  classes  of 
officials. 

It  is  of  interest  to  record  what  is  known  about 
the  assets  of  the  State.  Most  of  the  funds  we  have 
mentioned    show  the    progress  in   civilisation   of    the 


2  56  FINLAND 

country,  but  have  no  bearing  on  the  pubHc  finances. 
Besides  these  funds  we  have,  however,  a  kind  of  roll 
of  public  properties,  di'awn  up  in  1 8  9 1 .  It  amounted 
to  a  total  of  207I  million  marks,  of  which  106^ 
millions  were  the  value  of  the  government  forests. 
According  to  the  prices  of  the  last  few  years  their 
value  is  certainly  more  than  double  this  latter  figure. 
The  canals  were  reckoned  at  2 1  millions,  but  have 
a  value  of  at  least  25  millions.  The  farms  which 
belonged  to  the  old  army  under  the  military  tenure 
system  were  valued  at  7^  millions  ;  the  State  pro- 
perty which  was  formerly  a  part  of  the  Russian  dona- 
tions at  under  half  a  million  ;  agricultural  schools  more 
than  I  h  million  ;  and  the  old  Crown-lands,  properties 
belonging  to  the  civil  administration  and  fisheries, 
over  3^  millions.  This  roll  of  public  properties 
embraces  also  public  buildings  of  different  kinds, 
barracks,  schoolhouses,  hospitals,  &c.,  properties,  how- 
ever, which  have  hardly  anything  to  do  with  the 
public  finances.  The  total  assets  of  a  real  financial 
character,  domains,  capital-funds,  railways  and  canals, 
can  be  valued  at  about  600  millions,  against  a  total 
debt  of  140  millions,  including  the  new  loan  of 
1 90 1  of  25  million  marks. 

While  we  admire  the  excellent  economy  of  the 
Finnish  Government,  its  forethought,  and  the  sound 
character  of  its  ordinary  public  economy  as  well  as  of 
the  proportion  between  debt  and  capital,  we  may  ask 
whether  there  is  not  some  lack  of  security  consequent 
on  the  relations  Avith  Russia.  We  do  not  think  that 
there  is  the  least  reason  for  doubt  here.  Whatever 
may  be  said  against  the  Russian  Government  and  its 
administration,  it  must  be  recognised  that  the  Govern- 
ment in  St.  Petersburg  acts  always  on  the  very  strictest 
principle    in    all    questions    of    finance     and     credit. 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     257 

Whether  or  not  this  is  due  to  a  perception  of  self- 
interest,  or  is  a  consequence  of  the  great  difference  in 
principle  which  is  found  in  the  different  parts  of  the 
Russian  Government,  it  is  a  fact  which  cannot  be 
denied.  We  are  fully  convinced  that  in  these  matters 
there  will  never  be  the  least  question  of  any  trans- 
gression whatever  in  relation  to  Finland.  It  would  be 
against  the  whole  tradition  which  the  rulers  in  St. 
Petersburg  have  always  followed,  and  which  with  them 
has  been  a  point  of  honour.  It  would  be  against  all 
the  interests  of  Russia.  In  short,  it  is  an  entire  im- 
possibility. But  here,  as  elsewhere,  the  authorities  in 
St.  Petersburg  would  give  the  best  guarantee  of  their 
lona  fides  if  they  would  more  strictly  follow  the  de- 
mands of  the  constitution  and  the  rights  of  Finland. 

For  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  complete  idea  of  the 
public  burdens  and  the  public  resources,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  examine  the  finances  of  the  Communes,  in 
addition  to  those  of  the  government.  The  Church  in 
Finland  is  a  separate  institution.  We  have  already 
referred  to  the  considerable  extent  and  not  inconsider- 
able value  of  the  700  rectories  and  vicarages  of  the 
country.  There  is  not  any  complete  statement  of  the 
property  and  income  of  the  Chm'ch  in  existence.  The 
statistical  account  of  Herr  Jarvinen,  recently  published, 
states  only  that  in  1891  there  was  paid  to  the  Church 
in  the  country  3-^  million  marks,  of  which  half  came 
from  the  land,  according  to  the  so-called  "  mantal " ; 
one  quarter  was  from  a  personal  tax  under  the  same 
conditions  as  those  of  the  general  personal  tax  to  which 
we  shall  again  refer;  and  one  quarter  from  a  tax  on 
cattle,  which  are  supposed  to  represent  an  important 
part  of  the  resources  of  country  people  who  do  not 
own  land. 

Although    Communal    laws    are     of    recent    date, 

K 


2  58  FINLAND 

Communal  life  is  comparatively  well-developed,  more  so 
than  might  be  supposed  from  the  limited  resources  of 
the  Communes;  a  fact  due  to  the  old  Swedish  self- 
government.  The  sums  collected  and  expended  are 
the  largest  in  the  towns,  although  they  embrace  a  very 
small  part  of  the  population.  They  have  the  largest 
budget  and  the  largest  amount  of  property  and  debt, 
although  here,  too,  it  is  only  a  question  of  relatively 
small  amounts.  Their  properties  were  valued  at  the 
beginning  of  1899  ^^  ^  total  of  59  millions,  of  which 
about  2  7  millions  are  represented  by  houses  and  ground 
in  the  towns  themselves,  15^  millions  by  country  land, 
fishery  rights,  &c.,  6^  millions  by  invested  capital,  and 
10  millions  by  property  of  other  kinds.  In  1891  the 
total  amount  was  2  5 1  millions.  The  total  debt  at  the 
beginning  of  1899  was  stated  to  be  26  millions,  against 
13  in  189 1  ;  of  this  at  the  beginning  of  1899  Helsing- 
fors  claimed  about  10  millions,  Abo  3I,  Tammerfors 
about  3,  and  Viborg  2  millions.  The  more  prosperous 
towns  have  the  larger  debt,  in  consequence  of  entering 
on  larger  enterprises.  The  amounts  have  increased 
rapidly  in  later  years  ;  Helsingfors,  for  instance,  in  1 900 
had  a  debt  of  1 2f  millions,  and  in  1 90 1  it  was  expected 
to  exceed  1 4  millions  as  a  consequence  of  large  public 
works.  The  revenue  and  expenditure  of  all  the  towns 
together  in  1898  was  reckoned  at  i  5  millions  on  each 
side,  against  9  millions  in  1890;  of  which  former 
amount  2  million  marks  of  income  came  from  land 
and  lake  and  river  rights,  3  millions  from  taxes  on 
trade  and  industries,  and  another  3  millions  as  income- 
tax.  These  amounts  only  increased  respectively  from 
ii  million,  2  millions,  and  2^  millions  in  1890,  but 
are  now  increasing  more  rapidly  in  some  of  the  towns. 
The  income-tax  in  Helsingfors,  for  instance,  was 
estimated  for  1901  at  if  million,  against  ij  in   1898. 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     259 

The  most  considerable  expenses  are  those  common  to 
most  towns,  being  in  1898  about  2  millions  for  schools, 
2  millions  for  police,  other  sums  for  sanitary  objects, 
and  so  forth. 

The  Communes  in  the  country  had  in  1898  a 
revenue  not  much  exceeding  5I  millions,  and  expenses 
not  much  over  5^  millions.  This  is,  on  each  side,  not 
much  more  than  two  marks  per  head,  much  less  than 
in  other  countries.  Contrary  to  the  case  of  all  other 
countries,  where  the  Communal  expenses  as  a  rule 
have  increased  heavily  of  late,  the  increase  of  expenses 
and  taxes  in  the  Finnish  rural  communes  has  hardly 
followed  the  increase  of  population.  We  have  no  state- 
ment of  their  property;  but  their  total  indebtedness 
was  a  little  over  4I  millions.  In  some  cases  it  is 
doubtful  what  to  assign  to  the  State  and  what  to  the 
Commune,  as,  for  instance,  where  the  State  has  imposed 
payment  in  kind  which  does  not  appear  in  any  account. 
This  is  the  case  with  the  roads,  for  instance,  where 
three-quarters  of  a  million,  paid  in  cash  for  work  done 
by  contractors,  and  paid  through  the  Communes  chiefly 
by  a  tax  on  land,  passed  the  Comnumes,  treasuries  and 
accounts ;  but  the  greater  part,  according  to  earlier 
figures  as  much  as  3^  millions,  is  paid  in  labour  by 
the  landowners.  The  schools  required  in  1898  1^ 
million,  and  the  poor-law  contribution  in  1891  was 
reckoned  at  2  millions,  and  does  not  seem  to  have 
increased  notwithstanding  the  improvement  in  the 
paupers'  condition.  Half  a  million  was  expended  in 
1898  for  sanitary  purposes,  against  one-third  of  a 
million  in  1891,  and  for  other  purposes  a  less  amount. 
Of  the  total  revenue  of  5^  millions,  4I  millions  were 
obtained  by  taxes  in  1898,  against  3^  in  1891.  In 
addition  i|  million  was  raised  in  1891  by  a  kind  of 
income-tax,  to  which  we  shall  refer  later ;  one  million 


26o  FINLAND 

as  land  tax ;  half  a  million  as  a  poll-tax  on  grown-up 
persons ;  a  quarter  of  a  million  as  another  personal  tax  ; 
45,000  as  a  tax  on  what  was  known  as  "  rok  "  ("  smoke 
from  the  hearth  "),  on  which  also  some  1 00,000  marks 
is  paid  to  the  State  as  a  tax  on  families  or  on  habita- 
tions; a  small  tax  yielding  88,000  marks  on  manu- 
facturing establishments,  which  goes  chiefly  to  maintain 
the  roads ;  a  small  amount  as  inheritance  tax  (raised 
under  an  old  ordinance  of  1698,  which  permits  a  tax 
of  one-eighth  per  cent,  on  inheritances  for  the  benefit 
of  the  poor) ;  and  in  exceptional  cases  some  taxes  on 
cows  or  other  cattle.  We  quote  these  details  as 
curious  remnants  of  old  taxation.  The  new  law  of 
1898  extended  the  income-tax  to  all  members  of  the 
Communes  as  well  as  the  landowners. 

If  we  want  to  know  the  total  amount  and  details  of 
the  direct  taxes,  it  will  be  necessary  to  add  the  taxes 
paid  to  the  Church  and  to  the  Commune.  Accord- 
insf  to  the  calculation  of  Herr  Jarvinen,  the  total  was 
about  16  millions,  of  which  54  per  cent,  goes  to  the 
State,  the  latter  figure  including  33  per  cent,  in  direct 
payment,  and  more  than  2o|  per  cent,  in  work  on  the 
roads.  Of  the  balance  more  than  25I  per  cent,  goes 
to  the  Church,  of  which  2 1 1  per  cent,  is  paid  to  the 
clergy  and  the  beadles,  and  4  per  cent,  to  the  congre- 
gations ;  finally,  2 1  per  cent,  goes  to  the  treasuries  of 
the  Communes.  This  is  one-third  to  the  government 
direct,  above  one-fourth  to  the  Church,  above  one- 
fifth  to  the  Communes,  and  the  same  to  the  roads. 

As  elsewhere,  the  oldest  of  the  existing  direct 
taxes  is  the  land  tax,  the  unit  being  the  "  mantal." 
According  to  the  signification  of  the  word,  the  tax  was 
originally  imposed  as  a  personal  tax  on  the  owners  of 
the  land.  At  present  each  of  the  19,500  "mantal" 
embraces   an   average   of   5    to   6   farms,  as  we   have 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     261 

already  mentioned.  Part  of  what  is  paid  by  the  land 
(in  money  or  work)  for  the  construction  of  roads  and 
other  matters  is  portioned  out  on  the  "mantal";  but 
the  old  tax  paid  to  the  Crown,  the  so-called  "  ordinary 
rent,"  is  a  fixed  amount,  which  the  Swedish  funda- 
mental laws  have  promised  shall  never  be  changed. 
This  "  ordinary  rent "  is  reckoned  according  to  parti- 
cular units,  called  rouble  taxes.  The  number  of  these 
units  for  each  farm  or  "hemman  "  has  a  definite  relation 
to  the  "  inantal,"  but  not  the  same  in  different  parts  of 
the  country ;  the  survey  and  mapping-out  of  the  land 
according  to  the  laws  of  enclosure  has  been  done  and 
is  still  going  on  in  different  periods ;  and  a  valuation 
of  the  land  for  taxation  purposes  has  been  made  at 
these  intervals  according  to  different  methods  in  the 
different  provinces.  A  permanent  land  tax  necessarily 
influences  the  value  of  land,  and  becomes  therefore,  in 
fact,  a  mortgage  belonging  to  the  government  instead 
of  a  real  tax.  The  Finnish  legislators  seem  to  have 
recognised  this  simple  truth  better  than  modern 
legislators  in  several  other  countries.  The  permanent 
land  tax,  the  most  important  of  the  direct  taxes 
paid  to  the  State,  has  therefore  not  been  touched. 
What  the  landowners  pay  besides  this  tax,  such 
as  labour  for  the  construction  and  maintenance  of 
roads,  the  carrying  of  the  post,  and  other  matters,  is 
estimated  at  a  total  value  of  about  4  million  marks. 
The  so-called  rents  of  the  Crown,  as  well  as  the  less 
valuable  Crown  tithes  (that  is,  the  two-thirds  of  the 
old  tithes  which  at  the  Reformation  were  given 
to  the  State),  make,  together  with  other  small  pay- 
ments, a  total  of  about  3.^,  million  marks.  If  we 
add  to  this  about  2  millions  to  the  Church  and  one 
million  to  the  Communes,  we  have  a  total  land  tax  of 
more  than  10  million  marks,  which  is  not,  however,  as 


262  FINLAND 

surmised  by  the  statistician,  Herr  Jarvinen,  lo  per 
cent,  of  the  net  profit  of  the  land,  but  according  to 
other  valuations  nearer  5  per  cent. 

The  land  tax  is  still  paid  partly  in  kind,  or  according 
to  periodically  estimated  prices  of  grain.  This  form 
of  payment  is  antiquated  now  when  everybody  is  able 
to  sell  his  products.  There  is  no  reason  for  main- 
taining this  method  of  payment,  and  it  would  be  in 
the  interest  of  the  government  as  well  as  the  tax- 
payer to  fix  a  permanent  money-value.  The  Diet 
advocated  this  reform  in  1882,  but  the  Senate  refused 
to  adopt  it. 

Another  direct  tax  is  the  personal  tax  paid  under 
the  law  of  1865,  the  so-called  "  mantalspenningar." 
It  yields  2  million  marks,  the  tax  being  two  marks  from 
each  man  and  one  from  each  woman  between  the  ages 
of  16  and  64  years.  The  law  of  1865,  promulgated 
after  the  first  session  of  the  newly  revived  Diet  of 
1863-4,  introduced  a  great  improvement  on  the 
former  excessive  and  unequal  tax.  The  same  tax  is 
levied  in  the  Communes,  but  begins  at  i  5  years  of  age, 
and  men  and  women  do  not  everywhere  pay  in  the 
same  proportion  as  to  the  State.  This  tax  has  been 
imposed  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  on  all  persons  able 
to  work,  who  may  presumably  themselves  some  time 
have  need  of  this  assistance.  A  small  contribution 
to  the  law  courts  in  the  country  is  a  personal  tax 
on  the  different  classes  of  landholders,  with  total 
or  partial  exemption  for  poorer  holders  or  tenants 
who  do  not  own  land  themselves. 

The  "  centonal,"  or  one  per  cent,  of  the  salaries 
and  pensions  of  functionaries,  which  goes  to  the 
military  fund,  and  amounts  to  100,000  marks,  can 
hardly  be  said  to  be  imposed  according  to  any  principle 
of  taxation. 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     263 

A  tax  of  100  marks  paid  by  traders  in  the  country 
is  undoubtedly  very  reasonable.  John  Stuart  Mill 
is  right  when  he  says  that  it  is  neither  in  the  interest 
of  the  traders  themselves  nor  in  the  public  interest 
that  there  should  be  too  many  places  for  retail  trade. 
A  smaller  number  are  equallj'-  useful  and  expenses  are 
thereby  saved.  Including  a  small  amount  paid  by 
chemists,  of  whom  a  limited  number  only  is  allowed, 
this  tax  brings  in  half  a  million  a  year. 

Old  duties  on  special  industries,  such  as  the  iron-tithe 
and  the  hammer-tax,  have  been  abolished  ;  but  a  tax 
is  still  paid  by  the  saw-mills  as  export  duty  on  their 
wares,  and  a  similar  duty  is  paid  on  other  forms  of 
lumber.  We  have  already  referred  to  this  tax  when 
speaking  of  the  proposals  to  extend  it.  It  ought  to 
be  entirely  abolished. 

An  income-tax  to  the  State,  voted  by  the  Diet  in 
1863-4,  and  paid  during  the  period  1865-85,  is  of 
interest  because  there  has  been  a  proposal  to  re- 
introduce the  tax.  In  the  beginning  the  first  500 
marks  of  a  man's  income  was  free,  and,  as  the  tax 
was  calculated  per  100  marks,  where  the  chargeable 
income  was  above  500  marks,  it  was  really  the  first  550 
marks  which  was  free.  Later,  this  amount  was  only  free 
in  incomes  not  exceeding  2500  marks;  up  to  5000 
marks  four-fifths  per  cent,  was  paid;  up  to  10,000 
marks  i  percent.;  and  for  incomes  exceeding  10,000 
marks  li  per  cent.  The  system  was  ingenious,  but 
the  tax  did  not  bring  in  nearly  enough  ;  during  several 
years  it  only  yielded  half  a  million  for  the  whole 
country,  and  even  later  improvements  did  not  pro- 
duce any  good  result.  It  was  not  difficidt  to  find 
out  the  salary  of  the  officials  and  other  permanent 
incomes,  but  the  great  mass  of  small  incomes  were 
not  taxed  at  all.      Experience  proved   here,  as  else- 


264  FINLAND 

where,  what  has  been  recognised  by  the  English  law> 
that  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  impose  the  income-tax 
on  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  Notwithstanding 
the  law,  a  great  number  of  the  peasants  were  never 
rated.  Too  many  incomes  remained  unchanged  from 
one  year  to  another.  The  taxation  was  on  the  whole 
not  strict  enough,  and  not  even  the  officials  represent- 
ing the  State  fulfilled  their  duty.  Finally,  it  was 
changed  to  a  temporary  tax,  and  as  it  was  not 
necessary  for  the  budget,  it  was  not  renewed  in  ^1885. 

In  the  towns,  where  the  income-tax  was  introduced 
by  the  laws  of  1873  and  1883,  it  is  more  strictly 
levied  than  was  the  tax  paid  to  the  State.  It  is  im- 
posed on  the  sources  of  income,  such  as  houses,  lands, 
manufactures,  and  salaries.  A  person  is  assessed  at 
so  and  so  many  tax-ore,  the  ore  being  the  old  Scandi- 
navian word  for  a  certain  coin,  but  these  tax-units 
differ  in  the  different  cities,  the  larger  cities  demanding 
only  one  tax-ore  for  each  400  marks,  while  the  lesser 
towns  come  down  to  even  200  marks.  Incomes  below 
2  tax-ore  (or  400  to  800  marks)  are  free;  incomes 
of  3  tax-ore  pay  half;  incomes  of  4  tax-ore  (i.e.  800 
to  1 600  marks)  pay  full  tax.  In  most  of  the  towns  the 
tax  is  2  per  cent,  of  the  income,  sometimes  3  per  cent. ; 
in  some  towns,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  only  one  per 
cent.  It  is  not  just  that  mortgages  should  be  taxed 
twice,  as  is  the  case,  the  owner  of  the  property  not 
being  allowed  to  deduct  the  interest,  which  is  also 
taxed  in  the  hand  of  the  receiver ;  nor  is  it  right  that 
stock  should  pay  this  tax  both  in  the  hands  of  the 
owner  and  of  the  company.  Of  3f  million  marks,  the 
amount  of  the  tax  in  all  cities  in  1898,  Helsingfors 
alone  contributed  i;^  million,  and  in  1 901,  as  we 
have  mentioned,  even  if  million. 

According  to  the  law  of  1865,  the  Rural  Communes 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     265 

could  to  a  certain  extent  impose  a  similar  tax.  The 
laws,  however,  were  not  very  definite :  and  very 
different  bases  were  used :  capital  or  income,  the 
social  position  of  the  tax-payer,  or  revenue  from 
capital  or  from  income,  were  taken.  A  law  of  1898 
has  now  introduced  the  same  tax  as  in  the  cities. 

New  proposals  for  the  levying  of  income-tax,  the 
last  made  by  the  committee  for  the  drafting  of  bills 
in  1898,  were  founded  too  much  on  the  Prussian 
model.  The  Prussian  tax  is  the  result  of  peculiar 
conditions,  and,  both  in  its  origin  and  its  later 
development,  is  very  faulty.  The  rulers  were  afraid, 
when  it  was  introduced,  of  a  real  income-tax ;  they 
said  so  ;  they  would  only  attempt  approximate  justice. 
The  later  developments  have  largely  been  shaped  by 
particular  class  interests,  not  least  those  of  the  greater 
rural  landowners.  In  reality,  the  English  practice  of 
looking  to  the  sources  of  income  is  much  prefer- 
able, and  in  principle  a  large  difference  ought  to  be 
recognised  between  the  income  of  capital  and  the 
income  of  labour.  If  this  principle  were  recognised, 
and  if  a  sufficient  deduction  were  allowed  for  the 
single  man  or  family  where  the  man's  income 
depends  on  his  own  exertions,  the  always  arbitrary 
and  objectionable  progressive  tax  Avould  be  avoided. 
In  1899  the  Estates  with  good  reason  voted  against 
the  proposition  to  introduce  the  tax ;  it  was  not 
necessary.  It  would  possibly  be  useful,  even  if  it 
is  not  necessary,  for  the  sake  of  tlie  Communal 
taxation  to  have  a  similar  tax  on  capital  and 
income,  to  be  paid  also  to  the  State.  It  might 
replace  the  present  personal  tax,  the  "mantals- 
penningar."  If  such  a  tax  should  be  introduced  it 
might  be  specially  applied  to  a  thorough  reform  of 
the    custom   duties,    though    hero    arises  a  difficulty 


266  FINLAND 

because  the  custom  duties — the  most  important  part 
of  the  system  of  taxes — do  not  depend  on  the  vote 
of  the  Diet. 

The  stamp  duties  in  the  budget  for  190 1-4  are 
calculated  at  if  million  marks  per  annum,  and  as 
usual  are  partly  a  tax  imposed  occasionally  on  capital, 
and  partly  fees.  The  stamp  duties  in  Finland  are 
of  a  comparatively  liberal  character.  Like  those  in 
Sweden  they  do  not  seriously  hinder  legal  transactions, 
cheques,  bills,  or  other  obligations,  which  in  many  other 
countries  are  hampered  with  fees  or  taxes,  to  the  great 
detriment  of  certain  forms  of  credit  and  of  many  other 
economic  transactions.  As  in  Sweden,  stamp-duties 
are  only  paid  when  people  come  into  contact  with 
public  authorities.  Inheritance  in  Finland  is  only 
taxed  by  a  very  moderate  stamp  duty. 

We  need  not  mention  the  insignificant  duty  on 
playing-cards,  and  we  have  already  referred,  when 
speaking  of  the  manufacture  of  these  articles,  to  the 
important  excise  on  brannvin  and  beer,  this  last  in  the 
form  of  a  tax  on  malt,  as  well  as  to  the  injustice  and 
economical  error  of  imposing  a  higher  excise  on  the 
larger  breweries.  The  excise  fduties  on  brannvin  for 
the  budget  190 1-4  are  estimated  at  6|  million  marks, 
but  will  probably  amount  to  more,  and  also  the  duty  on 
malt  will  be  more  than  one  million,  though  estimated 
somewhat  below  this  amount.  None  of  these  duties 
are  very  hard.  The  forms  of  collecting,  as,  for  instance, 
in  the  case  of  the  beer  tax  on  malt,  might  be  improved 
upon.  The  reasons  given  for  forbidding  the  import 
of  brannvin  and  other  ordinary  alcohol  do  not  seem 
convincing. 

The  customs  duties  have  been  an  excellent  source  of 
revenue,  and  have  been  increasing  rapidly.  In  1826—34 
they  only  yielded  660,000  roubles ;  in    1 847-8  only 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     267 

900,000  roubles;  in  1858,  after  some  reform  in 
the  previous  year,  but  before  the  considerable  reform 
of  1859,  1,300,000  roubles  ;  in  1863,2  million  roubles  ; 
which  amounts  must  be  multiplied  by  at  least  four  to  be 
converted  into  marks.  The  amount  estimated  in  the 
present  budget  of  32^  million  marks  is  too  low  if  we 
may  judge  from  the  35  and  36  millions  of  1898  and 
1899,  and  nearly  40  millions  of  1900. 

How  far  the  financial  situation  allows  of  a  complete 
reform  of  the  customs  duties  is  seen  as  soon  as  we 
examine  the  composition  of  the  total.  Notwithstanding 
the  decrease  in  the  duty  on  sugar  imported  from 
Russia,  which  causes  a  loss  to  Finnish  finance  of  some 
millions,  sugar  and  preparations  of  sugar  contributed  in 
1900  12  millions,  or  28^  per  cent,  of  the  total;  coifee 
gives  between  33  and  3^  millions,  or  about  10  per  cent. ; 
tobacco,  3  millions,  or  about  9  per  cent.;  wines  and 
spirits,  notwithstanding  the  prohibition  of  the  import  of 
briinnviii,  about  2h  million,  or  7  per  cent.;  fruit,  one-half 
to  three-fourths  of  a  million,  or  2  per  cent.;  tea,  one-third 
of  a  million,  or  i  per  cent.  Together  with  the  excise 
duties  on  briinnvin  and  malt,  these  duties,  which  are, 
or  at  all  events  can  be  made,  purely  fiscal,  produce  about 
three-quarters  of  the  total.  If  we  remember  the  good 
result  of  the  last  budget,  as  well  as  the  by  no  means 
excessive  duty  now  demanded  on  articles  so  well  able 
to  pay  duty  as  alcoholic  liquors  and  tobacco,  we  find 
that  it  would  be  quite  possible  to  abolish  entirely  all 
the  other  duties.  In  fact,  they  are  all  detrimental  to 
the  economic  life  of  the  country,  and  they  are  causing 
difficulties  at  the  custom-house.  Such  a  total  reform 
would  be  possible  without  increasing  the  duty  on  such 
an  article  as  sugar,  which  is  a  good  financial  resource, 
but  which  for  other  reasons  had  better  be  free  or 
slightly  taxed.     There  is  nothing  to  hinder  the  aboli- 


268  FINLAND 

tion  of  duties  which  are  a  burden  to  industry,  such  as 
the  4  milHons,  or  1 1  per  cent.,  paid  on  metals,  as  well 
as  the  2 1  millions,  or  7  per  cent.,  paid  on  machines 
and  implements.  There  is  nothing  to  hinder  the 
abolition  of  the  i  per  cent,  brought  in  by  a  duty  on 
meat  and  pork,  or  the  duty  on  textiles  (yarns  and 
cloths  amounting  altogether  to  5  millions,  or  8  per 
cent.,  made  up  of  6  per  cent,  on  piece  goods  and  2 
per  cent,  on  thread  and  yarn).  Part  of  these  duties 
help  considerably  to  give  the  manufactures  of  the 
country  a  wrong  direction,  though  it  is  true  that 
duties  on  silk,  velvet,  and  other  high-priced  textiles 
which  are  not  at  present  manufactured  in  the  country, 
as  well  as  the  duty  on  Paris  articles,  are  not  protective. 
They,  too,  however,  are  the  cause  of  difficulties,  delay, 
and  cost  in  the  custom-houses,  and  for  purely  practical 
reasons  they  ought  to  be  entirely  abolished.  It  is 
only  by  limiting  the  collection  to  a  very  few  articles  of 
financial  importance  that  it  becomes  possible  to  avoid 
arbitrary  treatment,  and  to  simplify  materially  the 
custom-house  administration.  We  will  not  here  refer 
to  such  articles  as  meat  and  pork,  fish  and  maize, 
which  certainly  ought  not,  as  at  present,  to  be  taxed 
when  imported  from  other  countries  than  Kussia.  In 
Finland  there  is  no  serious  hindrance  to  the  intro- 
duction of  an  almost  ideal  system  of  taxation.  By 
only  taxing  a  few  articles  of  considerable  financial 
value,  the  foreign  commerce,  which  is  of  such  enormous 
importance  to  this  northern  country  with  its  one-sided 
economic  conditions,  might  be  greatly  developed. 
There  is  no  financial  necessity  whatever  to  misdirect 
economic  forces  or  to  diminish  the  consumption  of 
useful  articles.  The  tariff  of  Finland  is  many  times 
better,  for  instance,  than  that  of  Kussia  or  even  than 
that  of  France.  Germany,   and  Sweden,  so   far   as  it 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     269 

does  not  tax  necessaries  of  life,  such  as  grain,  flour,  &c., 
and  also  exempts,  or  at  least  only  imposes  moderate 
duties,  on  raw  material  and  other  things  used  by 
manufacturinu'  industries.  But  a  fresh  and  consider- 
able  measure  of  reform  is  much  needed,  and  ought  to 
be  carried  through,  notwithstanding  all  the  difficulties 
created  on  the  part  of  Russia.  Low  duties  are  often 
more  productive  financially  than  high  ones,  as  was 
seen  in  1893,  when  the  tariff  war  was  declared  with 
Germany  from  the  month  of  August,  and  when  trade 
with  Germany  at  once  sank  to  a  total  of  43  millions 
from  50  in  the  previous  year,  and  increased  to  58 
millions  in  the  following  year,  when  the  war  was  over. 
It  is  not  lack  of  economic  knowledge  or  class  egotism 
on  the  part  of  the  Estates  which  has  hindered  this  im- 
portant reform,  and  has  permitted  this  department  of 
finance  to  remain  an  antiquated  part  of  public  life, 
while  nearly  all  the  other  departments  were  reformed 
in  the  enlightened  liberal  period.  More  than  once 
since  the  first  session  of  the  Diet  in  1863-4  the 
Estates  have  asked  for  decreased  duties  which  would 
allow  more  commercial  liberty,  and  also  that  more 
power  might  be  conceded  to  themselves  to  deal  with 
this,  the  most  important  of  all  taxes.  The  fact  that 
in  the  "Form  of  Government"  of  1772,  it  was  left  to 
the  Swedish  king  alone  to  decide  on  the  tariff,  and 
that  such  decisions  were  included  in  the  so-called 
economic  or  administrative  legislation,  was  due  to  the 
idea  that  it  was  an  especial  privilege  to  trade  with 
other  countries.  The  old  kings  protected  foreign 
merchants,  and  these  paid  for  his  protection.  The 
customs  duties  were  then  only  a  sniall  part  of  the  taxes 
and  revenues.  The  influence  of  the  Estates  was  not 
entirely  excluded ;  and  they  voted  several  times  for 
special  duties  on  articles  of  home  consumption.     As 


270  FINLAND 

regards  Finland,  the  Emperor  Alexander  II.,  referring 
in  his  speech  from  the  throne  in  1863  to  the  work 
which  was  to  be  done  by  an  organising  committee, 
declared  that  the  general  principles  of  the  tariiT  should 
be  decided  by  himself  in  conjunction  with  the  Estates. 
But  this  was  one  of  his  good  intentions  which  were 
never  carried  out.  Only  on  the  tobacco  duty  has  the 
Diet  been  allowed  to  vote  an  increase  several  times,  in 
the  same  manner  as  it  has  voted  an  excise  on  brannvin 
and  malt. 

Instead  of  recognising  this  natural  and  proper  right 
of  the  nation  to  vote  its  own  most  important  tax,  the 
special  Russian  interests  which  rule  in  St.  Petersburg 
have  now  demanded  concessions  which  would  be  greatly 
to  the  disadvantage  of  Finland,  and  which  might  even 
entirely  destroy  the  present  basis  of  the  national 
economy.  There  has  already  been  an  insecurity  and 
continual  variation  in  the  tariff  without  sufficient  reason, 
which  has  done  harm  to  the  industries  of  the  country, 
and  which  is  not  in  accordance  with  good  conservative 
principles.  It  is  not,  as  already  noted,  that  the  Fin- 
landers  do  not  pay  enough  duty  compared  to  Russia. 
Here,  as  is  frequently  the  case  elsewhere,  moderate 
duties  are  much  more  productive  of  revenue  than  a 
high  prohibitive  tariff.  But  if  the  Russian  tariff  was 
introduced,  imported  articles  would  pay  three  times  as 
miuch.  This  whole  amount  would  not  be  paid,  because 
less  import  would  take  place.  But  the  present  condi- 
tions of  the  national  economy,  and,  in  fact,  of  the 
whole  civilisation  of  the  country,  would  be  changed. 
Instead  of  furthering  civilisation,  such  a  measure  would, 
without  any  necessity  whatever,  injure  the  life  of  the 
people,  and  contribute  to  force  it  down  to  the  same 
low  level  as  that  of  a  great  part  of  Russia's  inhabitants. 
We  need  not  refer  to   the   inevitable   demoralisation 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     271 

which  would  follow ;  the  smuggling  which  it  would  be 
impossible  to  prevent  on  these  cut-up  coasts,  where  the 
whole  population  knows  and  uses  the  sea  as  their  great 
highway,  and  which  would  be  to  the  detriment  of  the 
finances  of  Russia  itself,  as  well  as  of  its  artificially 
developed  manufacturing  industries.  All  the  condi- 
tions for  progress  are  here ;  the  whole  difficulty  comes 
whence  it  ought  not  to  come,  from  the  rulers  in  St. 
Petersburg,  it  seems  to  be  recognised  that  there  are 
many  practical  difficulties  in  the  way  of  an  immediate 
revision  of  the  Finnish  tariff  which  would  bring  it  up 
to  the  Russian  level,  but  it  is  reported  that  the  plan  of 
increasing  the  tariff  by  such  an  enormous  amount  is 
only  postponed,  partly  till  1904,  and  partly  till  1906, 
Avhen  the  privileges  of  Tammerfors  come  to  an  end. 
That  is  to  say,  instead  of  the  progress  demanded  by 
justice  and  reason,  the  country  is  menaced  with 
economic  destruction. 

Besides  the  tariff  of  customs  duties,  there  is  another 
public  burden  in  regard  to  which  a  conflict  has  begun 
with  St.  Petersburg.  This  is  the  question  of  military 
service.  The  old  Swedish  organisation  was  excellent 
in  principle;  it  was  the  same  as  the  English—  that  the 
people  were  obliged  to  serve  in  case  of  necessity  as 
militia,  but  that  the  whole  standing  army  should  be 
paid,  both  the  army  under  the  military  tenure  system 
and  certain  corps  induced  to  serve  by  direct  payment 
from  the  State.  This  freedom  from  obligatory  military 
service  is  in  reality  one  of  the  main  reasons  for  the 
superior  well-being  and  wealth  of  the  people  in  England 
and  the  United  States.  It  is  a  great  advantage,  which 
on  the  European  continent  is  only  held  by  the  people 
of  Switzerland  and  until  now  partly  in  the  Scandi- 
navian countries ;  where,  however,  Denmark,  having 
had   to  fight   with   Germany,  has   instituted    a   short 


272  FINLAND 

obligatory  service  for  all,  and  where  Sweden  has  now 
decided  to  follow  her  example,  at  even  greater  expense. 

In  Finland  the  army  under  the  military  tenure 
system  has,  as  we  have  mentioned,  hardly  been  in 
existence  since  the  union  with  Russia.  The  re-forma- 
tion of  Finnish  regiments  during  the  Crimean  War  was 
an  exception.  Real  military  service,  on  the  same  lines 
as  in  the  Russian  Empire,  was  however  later  desired 
and  enforced  by  the  Russian  authorities,  and  was  con- 
ceded. Except  for  important  political  reasons,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  understand  how  the  enlightened  and  ex- 
tremely liberal  men  who  led  the  Diet  in  Finland  in  1 878 
tolerated  the  introduction  of  ordinary  obligatory  service 
in  place  of  the  old  order,  which  was  superior  in  its 
general  principles.  As  was  natural,  some  of  the  best 
men,  as,  for  instance,  the  late  Baron  S.  W.  von  Troil, 
were  opposed  to  a  system  which  implied  that  free  men 
who  were  drawn  for  service  could  be  forced  to  a  barrack 
life  which,  instead  of  educating  them,  is  too  often 
destructive  to  young  men.  But  even  if  we  had  known 
nothing  at  the  time  about  the  pressure  brought  to  bear 
on  the  Finnish  nation,  recent  events  would  have  taught 
us  why  the  new  military  law  was  then  passed. 

The  military  organisation  then  adopted  was  largely 
an  imitation  of  Prussia.  The  period  of  active  service 
was  to  be  three  years.  Exemption  was  (and  is)  granted 
to  clergymen,  school-teachers,  physicians,  sailors,  and 
pilots ;  also  to  certain  others,  such  as  only  sons. 
Young  men  who  had  gained  a  higher  educational 
standard  could  serve  for  shorter  periods.  Unlike  Ger- 
many, however,  it  was  only  a  small  number  of  men 
who  were  taken  for  service  with  the  colours.  The 
young  men  were  distributed  by  lot  between  this 
service  and  the  reserve,  so  that  till  recently  one-fifth 
served  in  the  active  army  in  time  of  peace,  i.e.  5600 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     273 

men    against    19,000    in    the    reserve.     This    reserve 
requn-ed  service  from  all,  a  total  of  ninety  days' service 
durmg  three  years.    The  men  who  had  served  with  the 
colours  must  remain  in  the  reserve  for  two  years  at 
least.      From   the   reserve   all   were    transferred   later 
to  the  "landtvarn,"  a  territorial  army  which  is  only 
mobilised  in  case  of  hostile  attack,  and  m  which  all 
had  to  remain  until  the  age  of  forty,  the  time  being 
now  some  years  longer.    The  old  Swedish  military  oath 
was  changed,  so  that  the  soldiers  promised  "  to  defend 
the   throne  and   the  fatherland,"  which   would  mean 
Finland.     The   mihtary   organisation  was   decided  by 
law,  and  voted  by  the  Diet,  and  some  of  its  provisions 
were  expressly  declared  to  be  part  of  the  constitution 
after  which  declaration  it  cannot  be  changed  except  by 
the  consent  of  all  four  Estates  on  the  proposal  of  the 
Emperor.     The  conditions  of  military  service  and  the 
economic  administration  of  the  army,  which  were  in- 
cluded  in   this   organisation,  were   dependent  on   the 
Diet.    The  real  military  order  depended  on  the  Emperor 
alone,  and  the  commanding  power  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  Russian  Minister  of  War,  who,  for  this  purpose,  had 
a  bureau  composed  of  Finnish  officers.     Nobody  but 
Finlanders  could  serve  in  the  army. 

This  military  organisation  has  not  only  been 
attacked  by  the  authorities  in  St.  Petersburg,  but  the 
scheme  for  a  complete  unification  of  the  Finnish 
mihtary  organisation  with  that  of  Russia  has  un- 
doubtedly been  part  of  an  attack  on  the  whole  Finnish 
constitution.  This  military  business  was  a  point  where 
the  constitutional  rights  of  Finland  were  felt  to  be  a 
hmdrance,  and  for  this  reason  it  was  desired  to  do 
away  with  the  constitution  itself.  To  those  who  know 
Finland  it  was  very  curious  to  see  the  fear  and  ill-will 
m    St.    Petersburg    against    the    Finnish    militia,    the 


s 


2  74  FINLAND 

reserve  which  is  on  active  service  for  ninety  days.  It 
was  thought  in  St.  Petersburg  that  such  a  national 
militia  might  serve  the  people  against  their  rulers. 
All  such  ideas  prove  how  little  the  rulers  in  St. 
Petersburg  know  the  Finnish  people,  with  their  ideas 
of  law  and  order  and  loyalty.  They  themselves  have 
hardly  any  idea  of  such  order  and  cannot  understand 
how  others  can  have  it.  The  fact  that  the  Avork  of 
this  reserve  is  stopped,  and  that  it  is  being  entirely 
done  away  with,  is  no  great  misfortune  for  the 
Finlanders,  It  might  not  even  be  a  great  evil  if 
Finland  should  contribute  money  to  the  defence  of 
the  country,  instead  of  providing  soldiers.  But  no- 
thing would  be  more  entirely  destructive  to  Finnish 
life  than  the  service  demanded  by  the  Russian  Minister 
of  War,  which  included  five  years  with  the  colours 
in  Russian  regiments  and  under  Russian  officers  and 
non-commissioned  officers.  Those  who  know  anything 
about  Finland  and  Russia,  the  entirely  different 
national  temperament,  the  difference  in  habits  of  life, 
and  so  forth,  know  what  this  would  mean.  Many 
young  Finlanders  would  not  endure  such  a  life.  Their 
whole  present  manner  of  life  and  work  would  be  upset. 
Finnish  society  would  change  its  character.  Already 
many  young  Finlanders  have  emigrated,  partly  to 
Swedish  Norrland,  chiefly  to  the  United  States  and 
to  Canada,  in  order  that  they  may  avoid  the  present 
hard  three  years'  service.  Until  recently  emigrants 
were  few  in  number,  it  being  more  particularly  those  in 
Ostrobothnia  who,  by  their  connection  with  Sweden 
and  Norway,  had  learned  to  emigrate ;  but  this  taste 
and  practice  is  extending.  The  danger  of  a  new  and 
harder  military  service  contributed  at  once  greatly  to 
increase  the  emigration.  For  this  reason  the  emigra- 
tion increased  in    1899  to  over   12,000  according  to 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     275 

official  figures  (but  really  probably  to  16^000)  from  an 
average  during  the  preceding  years  of  about  3,000. 
In  some  districts  nearly  all  young  men  left  the 
country.  If  such  a  service,  and  especially  a  service 
of  three  years  in  Russia  and  in  a  Russian  corps,  should 
be  introduced,  the  emigration  of  a  majority  of  the 
young  men,  which  is  now  a  local  exception,  would  soon 
become  the  rule.  It  would  be  on  a  still  larger  scale 
than  was  the  enormous  emigration  from  Sleswick 
when  this  country  was  transferred  from  Denmark  to 
Prussia,  since  the  Russian  service  would  be  harder 
than  is  the  German  service,  and  the  habits  of  the 
Finlanders  and  Russians  differ  even  more  completely 
than  those  of  the  Danish  peasants  and  Germans. 

The  Russian  Council  of  State,  in  discussing  the  new 
Army  Bill,  took  due  notice  of  several  important  points 
in  the  counter-proposal  made  by  the  Finnish  Estates 
in  1899,  but  the  advice  of  the  Council  has  been  dis- 
regarded in  the  final  decision  in  this  matter.  For  the 
new  Military  Service  Law,  which  was  signed  by  the 
Emperor  on  July  i  2,  and  shortly  afterwards  was  pro- 
mulgated by  the  Finnish  Senate,  makes  no  other 
concession  to  the  Finnish  demands  than  lowering  the 
period  of  service  with  the  colours  from  five  years,  as 
originally  proposed,  to  three  years.  The  new  law  does 
not  recognise  the  existence  of  a  separate  Finnish 
army;  the  existing  Finnish  regiments  will  be  dis- 
banded, with  the  exception  of  the  battalion  of  the 
Finnish  Guards  and  the  regiment  of  Dragoons ;  and 
there  will  be  practically  no  difference  between  Finnish 
and  Russian  regiments  in  garrison  in  Finland.  Finnish 
conscripts  will  be  enrolled  in  Russian  regiments,  and 
(contrary  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  Finnish 
law)  will  be  ordered  to  serve  any^vhere  within  Russia 
or  even  abroad,  and   will   be  subject  to   the  Russian 


2/6  FINLAND 

military  penal  code.  Although  the  manifesto  which 
accompanies  and  serves  as  a  kind  of  introduction  to 
the  new  law  stipulates  that  "  for  the  time  being,"  i.e. 
till  1903,  when  the  new  law  will  come  into  force,  only 
500  men  shall  be  called  out  annually  for  service  with 
the  colours  (as  against  about  2000  under  the  existing 
law),  the  new  law  leaves  it  entirely  to  the  Russian 
Minister  of  War  to  fix  for  the  future  the  annual  con- 
tingent, subject  only  to  the  Emperor's  approval.  The 
Finnish  Estates  are  thus  entirely  debarred  from  all 
control  over  the  contingent,  a  control  so  important  for 
the  economical  condition  of  the  country.  The  manner 
in  which  this  new  law  has  been  enacted  violates  the 
right  of  the  Finnish  people  to  legislate  on  military 
questions,  a  right  which  was  in  the  most  emphatic 
manner  asserted  by  the  Finnish  Estates  in  1899,  and 
fully  recognised  by  the  greatest  European  authorities, 
including  Professor  Westlake  in  England. 

Various  of  its  provisions  also  entail  serious  altera- 
tions in  existing  Finnish  laws,  such  as  the  Penal  Code, 
the  sphere  of  the  Law  Courts,  the  rights  of  the  Com- 
munes, &c.,  which  cannot  be  legally  altered  except 
with  the  consent  of  the  Finnish  Estates. 

An  especially  insidious  and  dangerous  attack  on  the 
whole  constitution,  and  even  on  the  existence  of  the 
Finnish  nation,  is  that  Russians  will  receive  com- 
missions in  '■  the  regiments,  the  ranks  of  which  will  be 
preferably  filled  up  by  natives  of  Finland,"  and  will 
thereby  acquire  the  rights  of  Finnish  citizens.  Until 
now  it  has  been  one  of  the  great  guarantees  for  the 
national  existence  of  the  Finnish  people  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  constitution,  only  Finlanders  can  be  Finnish 
officials.  Now,  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen,  and  against  all 
law,  a  class  of  Russian  military  officers  is  created  who, 
by  their  service  in  Finland,  obtain  some  knowledge  of 


4 


THE  EXCHEQUER  AND  CIVIC  DUTIES     277 

the  country  which  thereafter  may  be  used  for  work 
which  no  Finlander  would  be  willing  to  undertake. 
But,  above  all,  this  ordinance,  notwithstanding  its 
momentary  leniency,  is  a  new  outrage  on  that  legal 
and  constitutional  order,  without  which  no  healthy 
national  life  and  no  great  material  development  is 
possible.  It  creates  and  keeps  alivo  an  extreme 
anxiety  not  only  for  national  rights  and  national  life, 
but  also  for  material  welfare.  What  is  not  done 
to-day  may  be  done  to-morrow.  Without  regard  to 
constitutional  right,  there  is  no  guarantee  for  any 
work  or  any  order. 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE   GOVERNMENT    OF    FINLAND    AND    ITS    FUTURE 

The  ofoverumenl  of  Finland  is  an  instance  of  the  fact 
that  a  constitution  matters  less  than  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  used.  The  government  has  several 
anomaUes,  but  it  has  worked  relatively  well.  Its 
Senate  has  two  sections,  the  Economic  Department, 
which  coincides  with  the  Cabinet  or  Ministry  of  other 
countries;  and  the  Judicial  Department,  which  is 
mainly  a  Supreme  Court.  Only  in  a  few  affairs,  such 
as  when  laws  are  prepared,  do  the  two  sections  take 
counsel  together.  This  peculiar  arrangement  is  no 
great  disadvantage  to  the  country.  The  most  anoma- 
lous feature  in  it  is  that  the  members  of  the  Judicial 
Department  of  the  Senate,  that  is,  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  hold  their  office  as  senators  for  only  three  years  ; 
while  all  other  judges,  as  well  as  other  officials  in 
Finland,  with  a  few  well-defined  exceptions,  can  only 
legally  be  dismissed  by  a  decision  of  the  court.  The 
greatest  practical  defect  in  the  organisation  of  the 
government  is  its  connection  with  the  Emperor,  the 
medium  between  whom  and  his  Finnish  Cabinet  is  the 
Governor-General,  and  more  particularly  the  Minister- 
Secretary  of  State  in  St.  Petersburg — the  latter  of 
whom  no  longrer  has  a  committee  for  Finnish  affairs  at 
his  side  as  formerl}?-,  and  for  the  moment  is  not  even 
as  formerly,  and  as  he  ought  to  be  according  to  law,  a 
Finlander.     Much  depends  of  course  on  the  personal 

character  of  the  men.     The  four  Estates  who  form  the 

278 


FINLAND  AND  ITS  FUTURE  279 

Diet  work  in  a  manner  which  would  hardly  be  thought 
possible  for  so  heavy  and  complicated  a  machine. 
A  procedure  born  of  experience  in  Sweden  has  been 
followed  and  improved  upon.  One  feature  of  it  is  the 
standing  committees  which  prepare  matters  for  the 
Estates,  and  which  continue  to  sit  while  the  separate 
Estates  treat  the  matters  sent  up  to  them.  Thus  we 
have  the  Law  Committee,  the  Committee  for  Economic 
and  Industrial  Questions,  the  Taxation  Committee,  the 
Bank  Committee,  the  Committee  of  Finance  or  of 
Ways  and  Means,  and  the  Committee  for  '■  Expedition  " 
or  tabulating  the  results  of  the  Diet.  Another  im- 
portant feature  is  the  decision  of  matters  which  have 
to  be  decided  when  the  Estates  do  not  agree  and  there 
is  not  the  usually  necessary  majority  of  three  Estates 
to  one,  or,  in  some  of  the  cases  which  require  the 
unanimous  decision  of  all  four  Estates,  such  as  new 
taxes,  or  fresh  expenditure.  Such  questions  are 
decided  by  a  two-thirds  majority  of  the  committee 
which  it  concerns,  and  which  is  increased  to  a  larger 
body  by  each  of  the  four  Estates  sending  fifteen 
representatives.  It  is  especially  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee which  has  to  be  "  strengthened "  in  this 
way,  and  has  to  decide  questions  in  which  there 
is  a  difference  of  opinion  between  the  Estates.  This 
is  a  feature  which  might  be  imitated  with  advantage 
in  certain  other  countries  where  the  two  houses  too 
often  find  it  difficult  to  agree.  The  franchise  for  two 
Estates,  those  of  the  citizens  and  the  peasants,  might  be 
made  more  liberal.  In  itself  personal  representation, 
such  as  that  of  the  heads  of  faniiUes  who  sit  in  the 
House  of  Nobles,  is,  of  course,  against  strict  constitu- 
tional principles,  but,  like  the  English  House  of  Lords, 
Finland's  House  of  Nobles  is  a  very  liberal,  capable, 
and  far  from  exclusive  assembly.     As  in  the  case  of 


28o  FINLAND 

the  bishops  in  the  EngUsh  House  of  Lords,  practical 
objections  might  be  raised  against  the  part  played  by 
the  clergy.  But,  on  the  whole,  the  Estates  of  Finland 
have  worked  well,  better  than  most  of  the  modern 
parliaments  which  are  organised  in  a  more  rational 
manner.  It  is  desirable  to  extend  their  influence,  as, 
for  instance,  by  more  frequent  sessions.  According  to 
the  constitution,  they  must  meet  at  least  every  Ave 
years;  but  even  the  three  years'  interval,  which  has 
been  the  recent  period,  was  altogether  too  long,  espe- 
cially for  current  affairs  such  as  votes  of  supply  and 
appropriation  of  money.  Nevertheless,  after  the  session 
of  1 900,  a  four  years'  interval  was  fixed  by  the  Em- 
peror. Van  der  Vlugt,  the  great  jurist  of  Leyden, 
who  calls  the  Finnish  government  "  ideal,"  or  "  next 
to  ideal,"  during  its  liberal  era  after  1863,  perhaps 
speaks  too  strongly,  but  it  is  certainly  a  most  remark- 
able example  of  a  liberal,  progressive,  and  reforming 
government,  notwithstanding  the  lack  of  a  democratic 
and  liberal  election  law,  and  the  absence  of  what  might 
be  considered  even  more  necessary,  a  parliamentary 
government  with  ministers  changing  according  to  the 
majorities  of  the  assemblies.  Instead  of  "  ideal,"  we 
will  say  that  we  see  here  a  government  proving  how 
much  can  be  accomplished  by  sound  and  just  ideas 
notwithstanding  great  defects  of  organisation ;  and  we 
will  add  that,  during  a  long  period,  the  leaders  here 
were  better  men  than  has  been  the  case  in  a  good 
many  democratic  countries. 

The  Senate,  particularly  the  Economic  Department, 
works  like  the  Cabinet  in  other  countries.  It  has  nine 
divisions  answering  to  the  departments  of  ministers  in 
other  countries:  the  Judicial  division,  the  Civil  and 
Finance  divisions,  a  division  dealing  with  Audit,  and 
especially  with  taxation  and  the  public  domains,  and 


FINLAND  AND  ITS  FUTURE  281 

divisions  known  as  Military,  Cliurch  and  Public  In- 
struction, Agriculture,  Commerce  and  Manufactures, 
and  Means  of  Communication.  Under  the  Senate  and 
under  these  divisions  are  the  usual  subordinate  offices 
of  Prisons,  Sanitary  Board,  Custom-House,  Treasiury, 
Audit,  Commissariat  of  War,  Schools,  Agriculture, 
Surveying  and  Enclosure,  Manufactures,  Pilots,  Post, 
Railways,  and  the  peculiar  Finnish  Committee  for  the 
Preparation  of  New  Laws.  These  last-mentioned  offices 
are  managed  partly  by  a  board  with  joint  control  and 
partly  by  one  chief  director.  Their  operations  extend, 
according  to  circumstances,  over  the  different  parts  of 
the  country. 

The  local  administration  is  still  organised  in  a  similar 
manner  to  Sweden,  the  provincial  governors  answering 
to  the  Swedish  landshofdiugs ;  in  each  harad  or  hun- 
dred there  is  a  collector  having  also  other  executive 
authority,  and  with  him  an  accountant  to  keep  inter 
alia  the  tax  lists,  and  under  him  small  local  executive 
officials  with  police  and  other  duties.  In  Finland  the 
parishes  are  of  more  importance  compared  to  the 
harads  than  is  the  case  in  the  Scandinavian  countries. 
The  reason  is  supposed  to  be  that  there  was  not  much 
political  organisation  before  the  country  was  conquered 
and  converted  to  Christianity,  when  the  parish  system 
was  introduced. 

A  peculiarity  of  the  Finnish  administration,  even  of 
the  law  courts,  is  the  large  part  played  by  election  in 
the  appointments.  Besides  the  three  Superior  Courts 
there  are  sixty- three  local  judicial  districts  or  '•  Dom- 
sagor,"  not  entirely  identical  with  the  harads,  of  which 
there  are  a  larger  number.  The  local  judge,  the 
Hiiradshofding  or  Domare,  holds  courts  regularly 
twice  a  year  in  each  of  the  three  or  four  districts 
("  tingslag ")   into   which    each     Domsaga    is    divided. 


282  FINLAND 

This  local  judge  is  proposed  by  the  Superior  Court 
and  then  nominated  by  the  Finnish  Senate  or  by  the 
Emperor,  if  the  Governor-General  thinks  reference  to 
him  necessary.  The  judge  has  at  his  side  from  seven 
to  twelve  coadjutors  (Namdemiin),  nominated  by  the 
court  from  amongf  three  candidates  chosen  for  each 
place  by  the  general  assembly  of  the  parish  or  com- 
mune. These  coadjutors  form  a  kind  of  jury,  whose 
opinion  decides  if  they  are  unanimous;  if  Got,  the 
judge  has  the  decision.  In  the  case  of  serious  ^crimes, 
however,  the  Superior  Court  always  examines  the 
question.  In  the  towns  a  Borgmiistare  (or  two  in 
larger  towns)  is  nominated  from  candidates  selected  by 
the  citizens.  Where  there  are  two,  one  of  them  has 
the  civil  administration,  the  other  is  judge ;  but  he 
again  has  at  his  side  two  elected  councillors.  This 
organisation  is  not  perfect :  and  it  is  suggested,  among 
other  matters,  that  the  judicial  element  in  the  local 
courts  of  the  harads  ought  to  be  strengthened.  But 
it  will  readily  be  understood  how  such  an  organisation 
helps  to  guarantee  rights,  justice,  and  liberty  in  rela- 
tion to  the  representatives  of  the  government,  both 
central  and  local.  Besides,  we  must  not  forget  the  above- 
mentioned  legal  rule  that  no  ordinary  Finnish  official 
can  be  deposed  for  other  reasons  than  specific  misdoings 
proved  in  court. 

The  Diets  have  lately  wished  to  create  and  extend 
communal  Hfe  and  representation,  at  first  in  the  liins 
or  provinces,  more  recently  in  the  harads. 

The  Lutheran  clergy  have  one  archbishop  m  Abo 
and  three  other  bishops  in  Borga,  Nyslott,  and  Uleaborg, 
chosen  by  the  Emperor  from  three  candidates  elected 
by  secret  votes  by  the  pastors  of  the  diocese.  The 
bishop  is  aided  by  a  chapter  formed  by  the  dean  and 
two   other    members   chosen   for   three   years'  service 


FINLAND  AND  ITS  FUTURE  283 

by  the  clergy  of  the  diocese.  The  rural  deans  are 
also  elected  by  their  fellow-clergymen.  There  are  900 
pastors  for  more  than  500  congregations  belonging 
to  366  parishes,  each  parish  having  usually  two 
pastors,  one  rector  and  a  chaplain.  The  pastors  are 
mostly  elected  by  the  congregation  from  three  candi- 
dates sent  to  preach  on  trial  by  the  chapter,  and  if 
they  are  not  satisfactory  one  more  can  be  demanded. 
A  smaller  number  of  pastors,  in  theory  nominated 
by  the  Emperor,  are  also  really  elected  according  to  the 
choice  of  the  congregation.  They  are  mainly  paid  in 
kind.  Every  ten  years  a  Synod  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  meets,  consisting  of  the  bishops,  thirty  pastors 
elected  by  their  fellow-clergymen  in  the  dioceses,  a 
member  of  the  Senate,  some  jurists  and  professors  of 
the  University,  and  forty-five  lay  representatives  of  the 
congregations.  All  church  laws  must  first  pass  this 
Synod  and  can  only  be  treated  by  the  Diet  and  the 
government  afterwards.  The  affairs  of  the  separate 
congregations  are  decided  by  their  assemblies,  the 
"  kyrkostiimma." 

The  small  Greek  Orthodox  Church,  consisting  of  a 
few  congregations  in  the  south-east  who  were  allowed  to 
continue  when  Gustavus  Adolphus  gained  this  part  of  the 
country,  numbers  about  40,000  persons.  A  few  other 
congregations  exist  at  some  other  places  where  there 
are  a  small  number  of  orthodox  people.  The  Orthodox 
Church  in  Finland  has  its  own  Archbishop,  and  in 
Church  matters  is  under  the  Holy  Synod  in  Russia. 
In  the  towns,  where  there  are  a  few  Greek  Catholics, 
the  Churclies  are,  against  the  general  rule  in  Finland, 
maintained  by  the  public  treasury.  For  this  reason 
the  contribution  paid  to  the  Orthodox  Church  by 
the  government  is  very  considerable  in  proportion 
to  its  small  number  of  adherents.     The  most  serious 


2S4  FINLAND 

complaint  in  relation  to  this  Church  is  the  prohibition 
to  leave  it,  and  the  compulsion  put  upon  parents  to 
educate  their  children  in  the  same  confession.  Such 
compulsion  is  contrary  to  the  laws  of  Finland,  but 
it  does  not  seem  that  the  Finlanders  desire  to  raise  the 
question.  Members  of  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church 
are  often  attracted  by  the  more  intellectual,  instructive, 
and  educating  character  of  the  neighbouring  Lutheran 
churches,  while  their  own  Church  is  great  in  cere- 
monial and  legends.  In  some  very  few  cases  young 
Lutherans  are  said  to  have  left  then-  own  Church 
for  the  Greek  Orthodox  confession  because  they  could 
not  read,  an  art  which  is  demanded  by  the  Lutheran 
Church  as  a  condition  of  confirmation  and  thereby  also 
of  marriage. 

The  present  communal  organisation  is  modern ;  in 
the  country  it  dates  from  1865,  in  the  towns  from 
1873;  but  old  Swedish  experience  in  self-government, 
and  the  self-governing  organisation  of  the  Church,  has 
brought  about  a  wide-reaching  development  of  com- 
munal life.  Towns  of  over  2000  inhabitants  elect 
municipal  councillors  by  votes,  which  are  to  a  certain 
degree  of  a  value  proportionate  to  the  taxes  paid  by 
the  voters.  Towns  of  2000  inhabitants  or  less  may 
elect  representatives  if  they  so  desire,  and  they 
generally  do  so.  The  large  country  Communes  have, 
on  the  other  hand,  nearly  always  preferred  to  decide 
matters  in  general  assembly.  The  executive  authority 
and  the  ordinary  administration  is  in  the  hands  of  a 
committee  chosen  by  this  general  assembly.  Also  the 
towns  have  a  committee  of  finance  and  several  other 
special  executive  committees.  Such  a  communal 
organisation  necessarily  gives  considerable  strength 
to  the  national  life. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  speak  here  of  the  higher-class 


FINLAND  AND  ITS  FUTUKE  285 

schools  and  other  institutions  for  instruction  which  are 
now  established  in  sufficient  numbers,  both  for  those 
who  speak  Finnish  and  for  those  who  speak  Swedish. 
They  are  founded  by  the  State  and  by  the  Communes, 
as  well  as  by  private  persons  who  now  receive  consider- 
able subventions  from  the  government.  The  teachers 
are  comparatively  well  paid.  A  great  part  of  these 
schools  are  common  to  boys  and  girls.  In  the  private 
elementary  schools  the  girls  form  one-third  of  the 
scholars.  There  is  a  happy  variety  of  studies,  and  the 
scholars  have  to  a  certain  degree  a  free  choice  of  sub- 
jects. English  is  among  the  languages  comparatively 
little  studied,  and  notwithstanding  their  intellectual 
connection  with  Western  Europe  the  Finlanders  have 
until  now  been  little  in  touch  with  English  thought, 
literature,  and  language.  To  some  extent,  this  is  in 
consequence  of  the  necessity  for  learning  both  Swedish 
and  Finnish,  and,  in  some  cases,  the  foreign  and  very 
difficult  language  of  Russia.  English  is  undoubtedly 
at  present  as  important  as  German  and  French. 

Of  the  greatest  importance,  however,  is  the  recent 
organisation  of  the  public  elementary  schools,  and 
especially  their  relations  to  the  clergy.  For  several 
reasons  compulsory  education  has  not  been  thought 
desirable.  The  extent  of  the  country  makes  it  difficult 
to  enforce,  and  there  was,  too,  a  certain  fear  of  putting 
education,  and  with  it  the  national  life,  into  the  hands 
of  public  authorities.  Neither  was  it  really  necessary 
to  introduce  other  constraint  than  the  demand  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  that  all  young  people  must  be  able 
to  read  if  they  want  to  be  confirmed  and  married. 
Except  among  sick,  feeble,  and  abnormal  children, 
there  are  hardly  any  who  do  not  know  how  to  read. 
Elementary  instruction  is  mostly  given  at  home,  but 
there  are   also  elementary  schools  of  different  kinds 


2  86  FINLAND 

everywhere.  The  pastors  take  care  as  formerly  that 
such  are  estabhshed  and  maintained,  and  in  their 
capacity  as  directors  of  religious  instruction  they  can 
test  the  children's  ability  to  read.  The  lower-grade 
schools  are,  however,  largely  only  migratory,  the  teachers 
only  remaining  a  short  time  in  each  place ;  but  there 
are  also  permanent  schools  of  this  class,  in  which  case 
the  beadles  or  vergers  assist.  In  these  schools  religion 
and  reading  are  always  taught,  and  generally  arith- 
metic, writing,  and  some  other  subjects.  The  masters 
and  mistresses  are  partly  educated  in  small  seminaries 
and  partly  manage  without  special  education.  The  State 
contribution  to  the  schools  is  not  very  considerable ; 
regular  subventions  are  only  given  to  the  Communes 
in  the  Greek  Orthodox  districts  of  the  south,  where 
the  poverty  of  the  peasants  is  given  as  a  reason  for 
such  assistance.  Outside  these  parishes,  however,  the 
State  pays  for  the  religious  instruction  of  all  Greek 
Orthodox  children.  The  elementary  schools  in  Finland, 
like  many  other  departments,  have,  however,  made 
great  progress  since  the  time  of  Alexander  II.  The 
law  of  1866  ordered  that  seminaries  should  be  estab- 
lished for  the  education  of  teachers,  and  formulated  a 
programme  for  the  so-called  higher  elementary  schools 
in  town  and  country.  Uno  Cygnseus  was  the  man 
who  did  the  best  part  of  this  work.  The  State  was 
obliged  to  help  as  soon  as  the  Communes  had  done 
their  part,  and  the  towns  were  at  once  compelled  to 
establish  higher  schools  for  the  children.  In  the 
country  this  was  left  to  the  decision  of  the  Communes, 
until  in  1897  the  Estates  passed  the  law  which  now 
obliges  all  Communes  throughout  the  country  to 
establish  within  a  period  of  ten  years  enough  of  these 
higher  schools  to  give  instruction  to  all  children  be- 
tween nine  and  sixteen  years  of  age.     In  other  matters 


FINLAND  AND  ITS  FUTURE  287 

the  regulations  of  1866  have  been  maintained.  As 
soon  as  the  Communes  or  private  persons  procure  a 
house  and  furniture  and  educational  appliances,  and 
give  the  teachers  firewood,  land,  and  grazing  for  a  cow, 
then  the  State  gives  a  comparatively  considerable  con- 
tribution to  their  salary — 800  marks  for  men,  600  for 
women.  The  salary  can  be  increased  to  1200  and 
900  marks.  The  rectors  and  chaplains  may  control 
the  religious  instruction  of  these  schools,  but  the 
management  is  in  the  hands  partly  of  inspectors,  and 
partly  of  a  separate  higher  administration,  in  addition 
to  the  elected  local  directors.  The  first  seminary  for 
the  education  of  teachers  in  these  schools  was  estab- 
lished in  the  interior,  at  Jyviiskyla,  for  Finnish-speak- 
ing young  men  and  women ;  later,  a  number  of  other 
seminaries  have  been  added,  especially  in  the  towns 
on  the  western  coast,  separate  Finnish  and  Swedish 
schools  for  men  and  women,  as  well  as  mixed  schools. 
In  the  higher  elementary  schools,  reading,  arithmetic, 
and  writing  are  taught;  also  history,  geography,  and 
natural  science,  as  well  as  designing  and  manual  arts. 
At  present  more  than  a  seventh  of  the  total  number 
of  children  are  instructed  in  these  schools.  Private 
persons  have  established  some  so-called  "  People's  High 
Schools "  for  young,  grown-up  people  of  both  sexes, 
according  to  Danish  models.  The  Russian  Governor- 
General  does  not  favour  giving  public  subventions  to 
these  schools. 

In  the  schools,  as  in  other  spheres,  women  hold 
very  important  positions  in  Finland.  Their  right  to 
dispose  of  money  earned,  also  of  property  at  marriage 
or  on  coming  of  age,  is  not  peculiar  to  Finland ;  but 
there  is  hardly  any  country  where  women  make  similar 
efforts  to  obtain  education  and  work.  Women  of  the 
higher  classes  do  as  much  as  those  of  the  lower  classes. 


288  FINLAND 

The  first  lady  obtained  access  to  the  University  in 
1870;  in  latter  years  more  than  one -fifth  of  the 
young  students  are  women.  It  is  not  yet  usual  for 
women  to  hold  high  official  positions,  although  they 
may  be  elected  members  of  school-boards  and  com- 
mittees of  public  assistance,  but  they  work  in  every 
department,  and  in  many  positions  for  which  they  are 
better  adapted  than  men.  They  are  found  in  greater 
numbers  than  men  in  the  banks  and  public  treasuries 
as  cashiers  and  accountants,  and  in  the  post  and  tele- 
graph offices.  In  the  country  the  postal  officials  are 
mostly  women,  and  half  of  the  teachers  in  the  public 
elementary  schools  are  women.  A  great  number  are 
now  found  in  the  liberal  professions,  the  majority  being 
among  the  doctors. 

Besides  the  great  number  of  associations  of  difi'erent 
kinds  for  agriculture  and  other  branches  of  economic 
life,  and  for  scientific  and  artistic  purposes,  we  may 
here  mention  further  the  associations  established  espe- 
cially for  spreading  knowledge  and  education  among 
the  people.  The  oldest  of  these  is  the  Society  for 
Public  Education,  estabUshed  in  1873,  which  is  espe- 
cially engaged  in  spreading  popular  Furnish  and 
Swedish  literature.  There  are  further  two  societies 
called  "  Friends  of  the  People  Schools,"  one  Finnish 
and  one  Swedish,  which  establish  and  assist  schools 
where  the  local  Finnish  or  Swedish  population  is 
unable  to  do  so  itself.  Not  long  ago  the  "  Hemskola  " 
(Home  School)  was  established,  an  organisation  to 
assist  education  in  the  home,  which  is  already  of 
great  importance  in  Finland,  and  in  the  present  situa- 
tion is  particularly  interesting.  Excellent  pamphlets 
and  literary  and  educational  material  of  various  kinds 
are  now  at  the  disposal  of  the  smallest  and  most 
distant   homes  of  the   large   country   districts.      The 


FINLAND  AND  ITS  FUTURE  289 

students  contribute  during  the  vacations  to  further  the 
great  work  of  rural  instruction  and  education.  At  the 
University  of  Helsingfors  an  organisation  has  also 
been  established  resembling  the  English  University 
Extension  system,  a  movement  which  is  now  spreading 
to  many  other  countries.  A  great  number  of  other 
associations  play  an  important  part  in  the  public 
education  and  the  general  development  of  the  people ; 
as,  for  instance,  the  numerous  so-called  young  people's 
associations,  and  many  of  the  already  mentioned 
associations  of  workmen.  Also  the  temperance 
associations  and  their  great  work  must  be  men- 
tioned. In  Finland,  as  in  all  Northern  countries, 
there  is  still  a  good  deal  of  drunkenness,  but  the 
preference  of  a  large  portion  of  the  nation  for  tem- 
perance, and  even  for  total  abstinence,  which  is  the 
reason  why  it  is  by  no  means  common  to  find  alcohol 
in  the  farmhouses,  is  largely  a  consequence  of  the 
organised  work  of  such  societies.  The  efforts  on  be- 
half of  public  education  by  means  of  associations  and 
societies  is  not  favoured  or  liked  by  the  present 
Russian  Governor-General,  especially  at  the  present 
moment ;  but  the  right  of  forming  associations  and 
societies,  notwithstanding  the  formal  permission  re- 
quired and  usually  asked  for,  has  been  regarded  as 
a  part  of  the  law.  That  this  liberty  of  association 
should  have  been  now  made  dependent  on  the  arbi- 
trary will  of  the  Governor-General,  by  decree  of  the 
Emperor,  is  one  of  the  causes  of  the  present  popular 
discontent ;  it  is  regarded  as  neither  legal  nor  just  nor 
wise. 

The  contest  between  the  two  languages,  Finnish  and 
Swedish,  has  ended  in  equal  rights  for  both ;  but  as 
late  as  1850  the  government  was  opposed  to  the 
printing  in  Finnish  of  other  books  than  those  deaUng 

T 


290  FINLAND 

with  religion  and  farming.  The  determination  of  the 
Finns  to  have  their  language  fully  recognised  was  well 
founded  and  necessary.  The  preponderance  and  even 
exclusive  use  of  the  Swedish  language  in  the  schools 
and  in  public  life  long  after  i  809  could  not  be  admitted, 
and  the  Finnish  people  undoubtedly  had  a  right  to  full 
national  development.  Only  by  means  of  their  own 
language  could  the  people  be  fully  educated,  developed, 
and  strengthened.  It  would,  however,  be  equally  a 
mistake  to  relegate  the  Swedish  language  to  a  subordi- 
nate position.  Those  who  speak  Swedish  are  a  minority 
of  between  one-eighth  and  one-seventh  of  the  whole 
population ;  but  a  minority  has  its  rights,  and  further- 
more it  is  unwise  to  break  up  the  historical  tradition 
so  long  as  this  minority  continues  to  represent  an 
essential  part  of  the  national  literature  and  culture. 
It  is  also  a  valuable  means  of  communication  with 
general  European  civilisation  that  Swedish  should  con- 
tinue to  be  one  of  the  national  languages  of  Finland.  The 
efforts  on  behalf  of  the  Finnish  language  have  already 
obtained  equal  rights  for  both  languages  in  the  political 
and  social  world  as  well  as  in  the  schools ;  and  accord- 
ingly all  oflficials  must  understand  and  be  able  to  use 
both  Finnish  and  Swedish. 

To  make  Russian  the  official  language  for  the 
higher  administration,  as  has  now  been  ordered,  is, 
on  the  other  hand,  not  only  against  the  present  law, 
but  is  unnecessary,  unjust,  and  a  hurtful  and 
detrimental  burden  on  the  people.  In  reality  there 
is  no  Russian  population  in  Finland.  Of  a  total  of 
2,700,000  persons  there  are  8000  of  whom  Russian 
is  the  native  tongue.  To  Russianise  a  people  who 
are  so  advanced  in  civilisation  and  education  as  the 
Finns  is  of  course  an  utter  impossibility  in  our  times ; 
but  that  a  part  of  the  people,  and  especially  of  the 


FINLAND  AND  ITS  FUTURE  291 

educated  classes,  should  be  obliged  to  use  the  Russian 
language  without  any  necessity,  and  without  thereby 
obtaining  the  least  good,  is  intolerable,  and  so  much 
the  less  tolerable  because  the  country  has  already  two 
languages  (and  languages  so  fundamentally  different 
as  Finnish  and  Swedish)  which  all  educated  persons 
must  learn  and  use.  To  make  Russian  the  official 
language,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  country,  is 
another  reason  for  discontent ;  and  instead  of  attract- 
ing a  greater  number  of  Russians,  it  will  render  their 
position  in  the  country  more  difficult,  and  finally 
impossible. 

The  position  of  the  press  in  Finland  is  one  of  the 
darkest  features  of  its  modern  public  life.  Like  all 
well  educated  nations  in  the  North,  where  the  winter 
nights  are  long,  the  Finlanders  read  much.  In  the 
autumn  of  1899,  before  the  late  attack  on  the  press 
had  taken  place,  there  were  ten  Swedish  and  thir- 
teen Finnish  daily  papers,  and  a  total  of  eighty-two 
Swedish,  one  hundred  and  forty  Finnish,  and  four 
mixed  periodicals.  Now  a  number  of  dailies  and 
political  weeklies  have  been  suppressed.  In  the  liberal 
period  under  Alexander  II.  it  was  of  course  intended 
to  introduce  legal  rights  for  the  press.  From  1865 
to  1867  a  press  law  was  even  in  force,  but  as  the 
Estates  did  not  agree  with  the  government  about 
certain  restrictions  the  provisional  law  went  out  of 
force.  There  was  then  a  return  to  the  former  system 
of  "  preventive "  censorship,  so  that  a  paper  can  be 
censored  and  forbidden  before  the  printing.  In  the 
last  few  years,  since  the  present  Governor-General 
came  to  Finland,  press  restrictions  have  become  in- 
tolerable. Notwithstanding  the  control  exercised  by 
the  preventive  censorship,  numerous  papers  have  been 
suppressed  in  a   most  arbitrary  manner,  and  Avithout 


292  FINLAND 

respect  to  the  rights  of  property  and  work  of  those 
concerned  in  them.  In  fact,  there  is  at  present 
hardly  any  legal  order  maintained  in  the  matter.  It 
is  of  course  impossible  to  keep  communications  of  a 
political  character  from  a  nation  so  advanced  as  the 
Finlanders,  and  the  efforts  to  do  this  only  make  the 
ideas  and  their  expression  sharper  and  more  bitter. 

The  tendency  of  thought  in  Finland  has  one 
peculiarity,  which  probably  has  some  relation  to  the 
mixed  nationality  of  the  nation.  The  mass  of  the 
people  is  greatly  influenced  by  the  Lutheran  clergy, 
who  still  exercise  much  of  the  educational  and  moral 
influence  which  has  always  been  characteristic  of  the 
Protestant  religion.  The  upper  classes  in  Finland,  on 
the  other  hand,  continue  to  follow  even  more  than  in 
most  other  countries  (excepting  the  great  leading 
nations)  the  liberal  movement  which  is  common  to  the 
whole  civilised  world.  The  Swedes  have  always  done 
this  to  a  greater  degree  than  any  other  of  the  small 
nations,  having  become  very  cosmopolitan  since  their 
participation  in  the  great  religious  fights  of  Europe; 
and  their  share  was  not  least  during  the  liberal  period 
at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  before  Finland's 
separation  from  Sweden.  At  present  the  Finnish 
upper  classes  are  probably  more  cosmopolitan  and 
intellectually  liberal  than  the  Swedes  ;  for  with  their 
mixed  nationality  they  more  readily  learn  other 
languages  and  the  ideas  of  other  nations.  The  ideas 
of  life  vary  in  different  classes  of  the  Finnish  people,  the 
masses  being  strongly  religious,  the  upper  class  compara- 
tively liberal ;  but,  like  Englishmen,  they  are  united  in 
concerning  themselves  more  with  the  practical  work  of 
life,  and  less  with  theories  and  sentiments  which  lack 
a  goal. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Finnish  legal  organisa- 


FINLAND  AND  ITS  FUTURE  293 

tion  and  methods  are  still  in  use  in  ordinary  civil 
matters.  There  is  the  same  security,  the  same  forms 
of  justice  and  law,  civil  and  criminal,  as  in  other 
civilised  countries.  And  the  ordinary  Finnish  official 
holds  to  the  law  and  legal  methods  as  closely  as  his 
foreign  confrere,  the  whole  class  being  remarkable  for 
its  honesty,  and  bribery  being  almost  unknown.  The 
corruption  prevailing  in  some  other  countries,  back- 
ward in  civilisation  and  in  the  maintenance  of  legality 
and  public  morals — a  corruption  which  undermines 
law  and  makes  good  order  next  to  impossible — is 
unknown  in  Finland.  In  proportion  to  the  force  of 
such  ideas  about  individual  and  social  morality,  the 
lack  of  security  in  public  law,  and  the  doubt  whether 
it  is  the  law  which  is  supreme  or  personal  arbitrary 
will,  is  the  more  keenly  felt.  Already  the  danger  which 
exists  and  the  anxiety  which  is  felt  about  it  are 
burdens  on  the  whole  of  social  life,  the  material  as 
well  as  the  intellectual. 

Our  study  has  shown  where  the  Finnish  people 
stand  in  regard  to  material  development.  We  have 
seen  the  great  progress  made,  and  further  that  which 
is  designed  ;  but  we  have  also  seen  enough  to  know  that 
the  country  is  still  fur  from  being  a  rich  country.  In 
a  report  of  the  committee  for  the  drafting  of  Bills  we 
find  a  calculation  of  the  national  capital  about  the 
year  1890.  The  total  amount  of  private  fortunes 
was  then  calculated  at  about  2200  million  marks,  or 
2396  millions  without  deduction  of  181  millions  of 
debts  due  from  one  person  to  another.  The  items 
were  1464  millions  of  real  estate,  36  millions  in 
merchant  ships  (one  ton  reckoned  as  worth  500  marks 
for  the  steamers,  100  marks  for  the  sailing  ships), 
164  millions  as  the  value  of  domestic  animals,  56 
millions  for  the  fixtures  of  the  farmers,  3 1 1  millions 


294  FINLAND 

for  household  articles,  173   millions  for  stored  goods, 
65    millions   for   movable   machines   and  implements, 
5  7  millions  of  cash  of  all  kinds,  and  finally  60  millions 
as  debts  due  from  the  State  or  other  public  institutions 
to   private   parties ;    in  all,   private    persons'   movable 
capital,  922  millions.    These  values,  showing  an  average 
of  less  than  1 000  marks  per  head,  are  of  course  now 
much  higher,  but  they  were  (and  are)  low  compared  to 
a  good  many  other  countries.     In  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland    the   value    of   all    property   was    reckoned   a 
few  years  prior  to    1890    at   7000   francs  per  head; 
for   Holland  about  the  same;  Belgium   a   little  less; 
France  about  6000  ;  Germany  under  4000  ;  Denmark 
about  4000;  Norway  hardly  1500;  Sweden,  accord- 
ing   to    different    calculations,    about    2000 ;    for   the 
poorer  countries  of  southern  Europe  rather  more,  even 
as    much   as    1800   francs  for  Italy,  and  still  larger 
amounts,  if  we  are  to  believe  statistics,  for  Greece  and 
for  some  of   the  countries  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula. 
In  several  respects  it  is  of  interest  to  compare  Europe 
with  the  United  States.      The  census  of  1890  in  the 
United  States  showed  an  average  of  6000  francs  per 
head,  or  about  the  same  as  in  France.     On  the  same 
level  as  Finland  we  find  only  the  poorer  of  the  old 
slave  States,  of  which  some  sank  below  $200,  or  1000 
francs   per  head.     The   total  property   of  the  north- 
western States,  among  whose  inhabitants  there  are  so 
many  men  from  northern  Europe,  averaged  from  5000 
to  10,000  francs  per  head,  the  same  amount  as  in  the 
rich   north-eastern    States.       California   even   rose   to 
between  10,000  and   15,000  francs,  and  some  of  the 
new   mining   States   to    over    15,000.     Australia   was 
not  much  below   10,000;   Canada  up  to   5000;    and 
Argentina  about  3000.     As  we  have  said,  Finland  is 
only  in  the  early  stage  of  wealth-production. 


FINLAND  AND  ITS  FUTURE  295 

The  advance  of  Finland,  however,  is  satisfactory; 
and,  among  many  other  facts,  what  is  known  about 
the  distribution  of  incomes  in  the  cities  proves  her 
progress.  Dr.  Heikki  Renvall  tells  us  of  the  results 
of  the  income-tax,  which  continues  to  be  levied  in  the 
towns;  and  especially  results  coming  from  the  larger 
towns  during  the  period  1875-99.  We  find  here  that 
the  number  of  taxpayers  progresses  more  rapidly  than 
the  total  population.  In  Helsingfors,  where  the  same 
classes  were  taxed  from  1885-99,  there  is  in  these 
years  an  increase  of  88  per  cent,  against  an  increase 
in  the  number  of  the  people  of  8 1  ^  per  cent. ;  in  Abo 
10 1  against  22  ;  in  Tammerfors,  286  against  i2o|; 
in  Viborg,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  a  larger  part  of  the 
people  now  live  outside  the  town,  58  against  25.  It  is 
particularly  the  smaller  class  of  taxpayers  which  has 
increased  very  considerably,  while,  at  the  same  time,  a 
larger  number  of  those  who  have  been  small  taxpayers 
go  into  the  more  prosperous  classes.  This  upward 
movement  is  the  reason  why  the  lowest  class  in  1890 
was  composed  of  two-thirds  men  and  one-third  women, 
and  in  1899,  on  the  contrary,  one-third  men  and  two- 
thirds  women.  The  men  obtain  larger  incomes,  but 
the  women  rise  to  be  taxpayers.  This  progress  is  in 
accordance  with  all  the  other  facts  we  have  noticed. 

The  information  gained  from  the  movement  of  the 
population  is  of  the  same  character.  Finland  holds 
here,  too,  a  favourable  place  in  the  ranks  of  the 
nations.  There  is  a  considerable  excess,  1.5  per  cent., 
of  births  over  deaths,  the  same  as  in  other  first-class 
countries,  and  a  comparatively  large  number  of  children 
are  born  to  each  marriage.  People  marry  early ;  there 
are,  however,  numerous  unmarried  people.  The  poor 
living,  still  common  in  the  country,  sour  bread,  sour 
milk,  and    strongly- salted    meat    and    tish,    does    not 


296  FINLAND 

result  in  a  very  great  number  of  deaths.  The  average 
duration  of  life  is  not  low,  but  a  considerable  number 
of  persons  die  relatively  early ;  the  probable  duration 
of  life  is  therefore  not  high.  The  number  of  deaths 
among  small  children  is  not  high  compared  with  other 
countries,  as  for  instance  Southern  Germany  or  the  big 
Russian  towns  or  provinces  in  interior  Russia,  where 
between  one-third  and  one-fourth  of  all  children  in 
their  first  year  die,  not  the  least  conspicuous  cause  of 
which  is  the  rule  for  fasting  of  the  Greek  Orthodox 
Church.  Finland  shows  in  some  parts  a  result  less 
favourable  than  the  general  result,  as  for  instance  in 
the  number  of  deaths  among  children  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  St.  Petersburg,  where  many  mothers  leave  their 
children  to  become  wet-nurses  in  the  large  city ;  and 
also  on  the  coast  of  Ostrobothnia,  where  we  are  less 
certain  of  the  reason ;  it  may  be  connected  with  the 
great  prominence  of  salted  fish  in  the  food,  or  to 
emigration  or  other  causes.  The  number  of  deaths 
is  least  among  the  wooded  hills  in  both  the  western 
and  eastern  interior.  The  land  is  possibly  more 
healthy  here,  where  it  is  better  drained  b}^  rapidly- 
running  streams ;  also  plenty  of  money  is  earned  here 
in  the  woods.  All  these  figures,  marriages,  births,  and 
deaths,  vary  of  course  with  the  influence  of  good  and 
bad  years ;  showing  for  instance  the  fearful  effects  of 
a  famine  such  as  that  in  1867,  and  the  particularly 
good  situation  at  the  period  of  the  great  lumber  export 
in  the  first  part  of  the  seventies,  and  showing  again 
considerable  progress  during  the  last  few  years. 

Another  result  shown  by  the  above-mentioned  work 
of  Dr.  Eenvall  is  that  it  is  particularly  the  industrial 
and  commercial  classes  who  are  progressing,  and  whose 
numbers  and  incomes  are  increasing.  The  middle- 
class,  with  permanent  incomes  as  officials  or  in  similar 


FINLAND  AND  ITS  FUTURE  297 

occupations,  have  not  advanced  in  the  same  degree. 
Whether  we  look  at  the  great  progress  of  the  lower 
classes,  or  at  the  larger  number  of  men  who  now 
obtain  considerable  wealth,  we  see  to  what  extent  free 
industry  is  being  developed.  This  is  fortunate.  Re- 
ferring to  the  considerable  means  in  the  hands  of  the 
men  who  lead  the  economic  development  of  Finland, 
it  ought  not  to  be  left  unnoticed  that,  except  in 
England  and  the  United  States,  there  is  hardly  any 
country  in  which  wealth  is  less  employed  for  the 
gratification  of  personal  pleasure  and  enjoyment. 
Nearly  all  the  rich  men  of  Finland  continue  to 
employ  their  means  to  advance  the  economic  develop- 
ment of  the  country  and  for  purely  public  purposes ; 
just  as  in  England  and  the  United  States. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  those  who  are  at  the 
head  of  the  government  would  feel  it  an  honour  to 
do  all  that  is  possible  for  the  progress  of  the  country. 
With  the  popular  sense  of  legal  order  and  its  genu- 
inely conservative  character,  the  political  life  of  the 
country  might  also  have  improved.  There  might 
have  been  a  fuller  co-operation  of  the  Estates  with  the 
government  as  regards  the  tariflf  for  instance,  or  in 
more  frequent  sessions  of  the  Diet,  or  by  an  extended 
election  franchise,  and  in  several  other  ways.  We 
will  not  speak  here  of  the  press,  a  necessity  and  a 
great  help  to  a  nation  in  the  stage  of  civilisation  which 
the  Finlanders  have  reached.  However  much  is  done 
here  for  economic  progress,  as  well  as  for  popular 
education,  more  might  be  done.  It  is  noticeable  that 
the  Finlanders,  like  other  new  nations,  have  among 
them  a  number  of  men  who  are  not  only  good  but 
genuinely  enthusiastic  workers  for  the  puljlic  welfare. 
These  men  ought  to  have  the  largest  possible  scope 
for  their  activity.     We  have  referred  to  the  poor  North 


298  FINLAND 

as  not  yet  even  completely  known,  full  of  great  natural 
difficulties,  but  still  with  considerable  possibilities ; 
and  where  access,  for  instance,  to  the  ice-free  northern 
ports  would  be  of  importance.  In  various  ways  the 
rulers  might  assist  the  honest,  patient,  tenacious,  and 
sometimes  really  heroic  efforts  of  the  people.  We 
need  not  lay  stress  on  the  absolute  necessity  for  a 
national,  independent  and  free  development.  Those 
rulers  are  in  reality  the  strongest,  and  accomplish  the 
most,  who  work  with  their  people.  And  no  people  are 
more  willing  to  co-operate  heartily  with  their  rulers 
than  the  Finns. 

We  all  know  the  saying  of  Montesquieu  that  those 
countries  are  the  richest  which  are  the  best  governed, 
and  not  those  which  have  the  best  natural  conditions. 
It  is,  however,  less  true  now  than  formerly.  At 
present  the  central  government  in  the  most  highly 
developed  country  has  less  influence  than  formerly, 
compared  to  local  administration,  and  especially  to  the 
free  efforts  of  individuals.  In  the  United  States  we 
have  seen  parts  of  the  country,  especially  some  large 
cities,  which  have  had  the  very  worst  administration, 
but  where  the  whole  situation  and  the  general  progress 
has  thereby  been  influenced  only  in  a  small  degree.  Like 
hard  natural  conditions,  a  bad  government  may,  in  some 
respects,  even  be  a  stimulus.  Still  the  influence  of 
the  government  must  always  be  enormous  for  good  or 
for  evil  in  a  country  like  Finland. 

As  regards  the  present  situation,  we  are  com- 
pelled to  ask,  not  only  what  good  the  government 
might  do,  but  also  what  power  of  resistance  the  people 
have  against  its  evil  acts.  In  some  respects  the 
people  had  no  need  of  modern  arts  to  be  able  to 
resist.  This  is  the  case  where  it  is  a  question  of  the 
conservation  of  nationality,  and  especially  of  language. 


FINLAND  AND  ITS  FUTURE  299 

It  has  been  well  said  that  the  Finns,  who  for  more  than 
seven  hundred  years  have  not  been  made  Swedish, during 
centuries  Avhen  progress  was  much  slower,  and  when 
the  liberal  character  of  the  Swedish  government  did 
not  provoke  any  great  resistance,  have  no  need  to  fear 
being  Russianised.  Much  intellectual  national  life 
will  continue,  notwithstanding  all  that  may  be  done  by 
the  rulers.  And  to  quell  a  national  life,  intellectual 
and  economic,  such  as  is  now  found  in  Finland,  is 
an  utter  impossibility. 

The  bad  effects  which  might  follow  such  an  attempt 
are  best  seen  when  we  consider  the  possible  acts  of 
the  rulers  against  the  rights  and  Avelfare  of  the  people. 
Let  us  suppose  that  the  young  Finlanders  should 
really  be  compulsorily  enrolled  for  military  service  in 
Russia.  The  Polish  insurrection  of  1863  began  when 
the  Russians  tried  to  prevent  a  national  movement, 
and  ordered  that  the  young  men  should  be  carried  off 
at  night  for  military  service  in  Russia.  It  was  then 
that  these  young  men  iied  to  the  woods  and  really 
rebelled.  Such  an  event  would  not  take  place  in 
Finland ;  yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  a  very  great 
number,  and  indeed  the  best,  of  Finland's  youth  would 
emigrate  to  found  a  new  fatherland  rather  than  serve 
as  soldiers  in  the  Russian  army,  A  Russian  customs 
tariff  would  not  make  it  absolutely  impossible  to  live 
in  Finland ;  it  might  improve  certain  industries  in 
an  artificial  manner  and  at  the  expense  of  the  people, 
but  it  would  cause  a  fearful  depression  in  the  whole 
manner  of  living,  and  would  be  a  hindrance  to  pro- 
gress, public  health  and  well-being,  as  well  as  an 
immense  burden  on  the  natural  industries  of  the 
country,  agriculture,  exploitation  of  the  forests  and  all 
connected  therewith,  and  most  of  the  manufactures 
which    are  really   indigenous  to   the  country,   not  to 


300  FINLAND 

speak  of  commerce  and  navigation.  The  United 
States  could  make  great  progress  notwithstanding  a 
bad  tariff,  because  they  form  a  continent  which  is 
largely  self-sufficient,  and  where  the  wealth  of  one 
part  assists  the  making  of  wealth  in  other  parts. 
Finland  would  be  separated  for  economic  purposes 
from  the  more  civilised  countries,  and  bound  to  the 
poverty-stricken,  artificially-isolated,  and  oppressed 
Russia.  The  worst  influence  is  of  course  exercised 
in  material,  intellectual,  and  moral  respects  by  the 
destruction  of  order,  by  illegal  decrees,  and  un- 
constitutional acts  and  procedure.  Justice  is  neces- 
sary for  all  social  and  individual  life,  for  labour, 
capital,  and  for  life  itself.  Here  is  the  great  question 
of  the  future  of  the  country.  The  people  may  suffer 
but  they  will  not  submit,  and  it  seems  impossible  that 
the  proceedings  taken  by  some  of  the  rulers  in  St. 
Petersburg  can  be  continued,  and  that  the  Russian 
bureaucracy  can  be  allowed  to  destroy  its  weaker  but 
more  successful  neighbour.  We  would  rather  sup- 
pose that  the  supreme  rulers  will  at  last  listen  to 
the  demand  of  law,  justice,  and  wisdom  ;  since  it  is 
evident  that  nobody,  least  of  all  the  Russian  people, 
would  gain  profit  or  honour  by  breaking  the  law  and 
oppressing  the  honest  Finnish  nation. 


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INDEX 


Administration — 

Central,  280 

Election  prominent  in,  281 

Forests,  of,  99 

Local,  281 
Agriciiltural  associations,  71 
Agriculture      (see     also     Animals, 
Grains) — 

Government  assistance  to,  70 

Implements  of,  61  ;  import  duty 
on,  62 

Manure,  artificial,  61 

Rotation  of  crops,  6 1 

Total  products  of,  70 
Alcohol — 

Breweries,  129 

Distilleries  of,  128 

Excise  on,  129 
Alder,  80 

Ancient  inhabitants  of  Finland,  2 
Animals,  domestic — 

Cows,  64 

Horses,  62 

Reindeer,  63 

Sheep,  63 

Swine,  65 

Value  of,  66 
Artisans — 

Associations  of,  145 

Metal  workers,  125 

Number  of,  143 
Aspen,  80 
Associations — 

Agricultural,  71 

Co-operative,  71-72 

Various,  288 

Workmen,  of,  145 


"  Backstcgusittabe,"  28 
Banks — 

Banking  law  of  1S66,  200,  221 

Bonds  of,  221 


Banks  (continued) — 

Co-operative  associations  assisted 

by,  72 
Expansion  and  restriction,  periods 
of,  208 

In  the  sixties,  209 

In  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
ties, 210 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  seven- 
ties, 211 

In  the  eighties,  212 

Bad  times  in  early  part  of  the 
nineties,  214 

Extension  of  business,  215 

Restriction,  217 
Foreningsbanken,  197,  202 
Grain  warehouses  of  parishes,  223 
Kansallis  Osake  Pankki,  205 
Monetary     system,      connection 

with,  185 
Mortgage,  for  the  towns — hypo- 

thekskassan,  221 
National  Bank  of  Finland — 

Administration    of,    principles 
of,  187 

Establishment  of,  187,  194 

Final  organisation  of,  187,  194 

Mistakes  committed  by,  200 

Object  of  business  of,  195 

Present  strength  of,  218 

Statement  of,  206 
Nordiska  Aktiebanken,  199,  203 
Notes,  abolition  of  private  issue 

of,  199 
Private — 

Character  of,  196 

Issue  of  notes  by,  abolition  of, 
199 

Statements  of,  207 
Savings,  222 

Treasury  and  foreign  loans,  situa- 
tion of,  219 
Various,  204 


302 


INDEX 


Barley,  55 

Bath-houses,  23 

Beer,  excise  011,  129 

Berries,  81 

Birch,  79 

Birharlar,  1 1 

Bostiillen,  32 

Buckwheat,  57 

Budget,  peculiar  character  of,  247 

for  the  period  1 901-4,  248 

Buildings  of  wood  and  stone,  23 

Burning  of  forests — 

Agricultural  purposes,  for,  8^ 
Associations  of  peasants,  by,  40 
Sowing  after,  59 

Burning  of  grass  lands,  60 

Butter,  commerce  in,  167 

Canals — 

Communication    by    means     of, 
228 

Government's  interest  in,  232 

Importance   of,    for   lumber  ex- 
port, 229-230 
Chemical  industries — 

Calcium  carbide,  12$ 

Matches,  127 

Wood,  126 
Church — 

Greek  Orthodox,  283 

Lutheran,  282 

Revenues  of,  257 
Classes — 

Artificial,  abolition  of,  33 

Islands,  on  the,  29 
Climate,  54 

Advantages  of,  13 
Commerce — 

Belgium,  with,  167 

Butter,  in,  167 

Coast  of   Pular   Sea  and  Wliite 
Sea,  on,  181 

Consumption,  increasing,  156 

Denmark,  with,  165 

England,  with,  163 

Exports,  composition  of,  154 

France,  with,  166 

Germany,  with,  164 

Holland,  with,  166 

Imports,  explanation  of  surplus, 

174 
Progress  in,  153 
Russia,  with,  160 

Tariff  regulations  with,  169 


Commerce  {continued)  — 

Spain,  with,  166 
Treaty  with,  168 

Sweden  and  Norway,  with,  165 

Tariffs,  167 

United  States,  with,  167 
Common  forests,  92 
Communes — 

Income-tax  in  rural  districts  and 
in  towns,  264 

Organisation  of,  284 

Rural,  259 

Town  municipalities,  258 
Community  of  possession,  28,  39, 

40 
Constitution,  new  military  decree 

not  in  accordance  with,  273 
Consumption,  increase  of,  156 
Cottiers    {see    "  Backstugnsittare " 

a7id  Torpholders),  98 
Cows,  64 
Crown  farms,  32 

forests,  35,  98,  lOI 

torpholders,  37 

Crusades  in  Finland,  6 
Customs  duties.     See  Taxes 

Dairy  business,  66 
Frozen  cream,  67 
Russian  suggestion,  69 

Debts  of  the  State,  281 

Division  of  land,  48 

Donation  estates,  Russian,  41 
Development    of,   purchased    by 

Finnish  government,  45 
Ireland,  comparison  with,  47 
Peasants  on,  rights  of,  41 
Property  of,  mediseval,  44 
Reselling  of,  to  peasants,  46 

Ecclesiastical  farms,  33 
Emigration — 

Extent  of,  53 

Sea,  migration  to,  1 87 

Threatened,  276 
Enclosures,  34 

Of  forest  land,  91 
Excise.  See  Taxes 
Exports,  composition  of,  154 

Famines,  12 
Farms,  area  of,  23 

"  Bostallen."  32 

Crown,  32 


INDEX 


303 


Farms  (continued) — 
Ecclesiastical,  33 
"  Herregdrdar, "  30 
Joint-Stock  Companies,  31 
Price  of,  24 
Renting,  32 

Russian  donation  estates,  41 
Towns,  bought  by  inhabitants  of, 

49 
Finances — 

Centralisation  of,  254 

Excellence  of,  247,  256 

Public     credit     in     relation     to 

Russia,  256 
Railways,    interest     on     capital 

placed  in,  240 
Reform  in  the  accounts,  256 
Possibility  of  reform,  267 
State  assets,  255 
Finnish  language,  289 
Finnish  tribes,  first  settlement  of, 

in  Finland,  2 
Fir,  78 
Fisheries — 

Cultivation  of  fish,  180 
Legislation  regarding,  179 
Marine,  fishing,  178 
Polar    and  White    Sea    Coasts, 

181 
Treatment  of  fish,  179 
Flax,  57 
Forests — 

Burning  of,  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses, 83 
Common,  35,  92 
Crown,  35,  98,  lOi 
Destruction  of,  89 

By  fire  and  wind,  95 
Enclosure  of,  91 
Export  duties  on  wood,  263 
Extent  of,  74 

Of  private  forests,  82 
Kinds  of  trees,  77 
Location  of,  75,  97 
Middlemen,    prejudice    against, 

93 
North,  peculiar  situation  in  the, 

97 
Peasant  owners  of,  20,  35 
School  of  Forestry,  100 
Settlements  in,  35,  40,  loi 
State   interference   with    private 

owners  of,  92 
Value  of,  105 


Fortune,  considerable,   of  leading 

men,  297 
Freedom   of   agricultural   develop- 
ment, 34 
Funds — 

Local,  of  general  utility,  255 
Pension,  255 
Public- 
Agriculture,  for,  72 
Separate,    formation    of,     for 
various  purposes,  253 
Stock  Companies,  of,  94 

Government — 

Attacks  on  legal  order  by,  300 

Bad  influence  of,  299 

Character  of,  278 

Public  progress  and,  297 

Resistance   of    the  people   and, 
298 
Grain — 

Barley,  55 

Buckwheat,  57 

Drying  of,  in  "  riar,"  56 

Export  of,  55 

Oats,  56 

Production  of,  58 

Rye,  56,  57 

Wheat,  56 
Grasses,  58 
Gypsies,  5 

Hemp,  57 
"  HerregArdar,"  30 
Horses,  62 
Export  of,  63 

Imports,    explanation    of    surplus, 

174 
Income  of  the  people,  294 

Advance  of,  295 
Income-tax.     See  Taxes 
"  Inhysingar,"  28 
Insurance,  223 

Accidents,  145,  225 

Fire,  224 

Life,  225 

Reinsurance,  224 
Ireland,  comparison  with,  47 
Islands,  classes  on,  29 

Joint-Stock  Companies — 
Agriculture,  for,  31 
Formation  of,  150 


304 


INDEX 


LABorREHS,  agricultural,  23 
•   Benefit  of,  47,  49 

Land  for,  47 

Loans  for,  50 
Landless  population,  47-4S 
Language — 

Finnish,  289 

Russian,  290 

Swedish,  8,  9,  289 
Lapmark,  development  of,  71 
Lapps,  5 

Maize,  duty  on,  65 
Manufactures — 
Bakeries,  128 
Breweries,  129 
Cabinet-making,  139 
Calcium  carbide,  125 
Character  of,  1 1 1 
Chemical  products  of  wood,  126 
Children  employed  in,  145 
China,  113 

Chloride  of  potash,  126 
Distilleries,  128 
Earthenware,  113 
Flour-mills,  127 
Glass,  113 
Granite,  1 1 1 

Household  industry,  146 
Individual  works,  123 
Insurance  against  accidents,  145 
Iron — 

Doubtful  future  of,  119 

Pig-iron,  117,  120 

Production  of,  compared  with 
that  in  other  countries,  120 
Leather,  126 

Machine    shops     and     factories:, 
121 

Import  of  machines,  122 
Matches,  127 
Non-alcoholic  drinks,  130 
Personal  capacity  in,  147 
Planing-mills,  138 
Printing  offices,  130 
Privileges  of,  149 

granted  to  Tammerf ore,  137 

Progress  in,  142 

Protective  duty  on  machines  and 
implements,  122 

on  pig-iron,  118 

on  manufactured  iron,  118 

Result  of  protection,  1 50 

Pulp  and  paper,  86,  1 39 


Manufactures  {continued) — 

Russia,  in,  150,  151 

Saw-mills,  137 

Shipyards,  121 

Smelting  and  rolling  mills,  1 1 7 

Soap  and  candles,  127 

Sugar  works,  128 

Tariff  union  with  Russia,  169 

Textile  industries,  144 

Tobacco,  130 

Wages,  143 

Water  power,  147 

Women  employed  in,  144 
Margarine,  suppression  of,  68 
Military  organisation — 

Actual,  275 

Condition  of,  in   1878  and  1879, 
272 

Illegal,  275 

New  decrees,  275 

Old  Swedish,  271 

After  the  union  with  Russia, 
272 

Russian  attacks  on,  273 

Tenure  system,  272 
Mines — 

Copper,  115 

General  character  of,  1 1 1 

Gold,  114 

Granite,  ill 

Iron  ore,  1 1 5 
Money — 

Banking,  connection  with,  185 

Finnish,  189 

Gold  standard,  192 

Gold  Standard  Act,  193 

Silver  money  in  1840,  186 

Silver  standard,  first  introduction 
of,  190 

Swedish,  continued  use  of,  185 
Mortgage  association  of  landed  pro- 
prietors     (Hypotheksforeningen) 

220 
Mortgage  bank  of  the  towns  (Hypo- 

thekskassan),  221 

Oats,  56 

Old  Finland,  43 

Oppression  of  peasants,  41 

Paper — 

Factories,  141 
Pulp  and,  86,  139 


INDEX 


305 


Parishes,  small  number  of,  in  olden 

times,  II 
Peasants — 

Character  of,  in  northern  coun- 
tries, 17 
Farms  owned  bj' — 

In  south  and  west  of  Finland, 

20 
In  Savolaks  and  Carelia,  21 
Forests  and,  20,  35,  89,  lOl 
Oppression  of,  41 
Poverty  of,  in  Finland,  19 
"  Rokporten  "  of,  2?. 
Russian     donation    estates,    on, 
40 
Pine,  77 

Polar  Sea  and  Finland,  l8l 
Population — 

Smallness    of    in   foinier    times, 

12 
Statistics  of,  295 
Post- 
Beginning  of,  242 
Increase  of  postal  matter,  243 
Modern,  243 
Obligation  to  carry,  244 
Reform  of,  243 

Transfer     of,    to     the     Russian 
department  of  post,  243 
Press,  position  of,  291 
Property,  amount  of  private,  293 
Public  debts,  247 

expenses,  character  of,  249 

Pulp,  86,  139 

Railways — 

Cheapest    capital    obtained     by 

Government,  242 
Combination  of,  in  rich  or  poor 

parts  of  the  country,  236 
Cost  of  building  new  lines,  237 
Goods  traffic,  239 
Government    control     of,    argu- 
ment in  favour  of,  24 1 
Increase  in  gross  revenue  of,  23 
Interest  on  the  capital,  240 
Low  tarifif,  result  of,  239 
Passenger  traffic,  238 
Private  railways,  236 

First  construction  of,  234 
Construction     of,     C(!ntinued, 
238 
Reindeer,  63 
Renting  of  land,  32 


Revenue — 

Church,  249 

Public,  249,  252 
Roads — 

Olden  times,  in,  233 

Recent  construction  of,  234 
Rotation  of  crops,  61 
Russian  language,  290 

Rye,  55 

Savings  banks,  222 
Saw-mills,  output  of,  86,  137 

Planing-mills,  138 
Scandinavian    influence   on    Euro- 
pean civilisation,  i 
Schnol  of  forestry,  lOO 
Schools — 

Higher,  284 

Primary,  285 
Settlements — 

Forests,  in  the,  35,  40,  1 01 

Interior,  in  the,  1 1 

Limitations  of,  10 
Shipping — 

Clearances,  175 

Commercial  marine,  175 

Fishing  marine,  178 
Soil,  53 

For  forests,  75 
Supply,  voting,  of,  251 
Swedish — 

Agriculture,  freedom  of,  34 

Inhabitants,  old,  3 

Language  retained,  8,  289 
Importance  of,  9 

Military  service,  old  organisation 
of,  271 

Peasant  freedom,  7 
Swine,  65 

Tar  manufacture,  84 
Tariff— 

Commerce  and,  i67 

Customs  duties,  266 

Estates,  the,  in  relation  to,  269 

Manufactures,  influence  on,  112, 

117,  118,  122,  150 
Protection,  effect  of,  150 
Reform,  financial  possibility  of, 

267 
Russia — 

Interests  of,  270 

Relation  to,  169,  270 

Union  with,  150,  270 
Bad  consequence  of,  270 

U 


3o6 


INDEX 


Taxes — 

Alcohol    and    beer,    excise    on, 

266 
"  Centonal,"  262 
Chemists,  on,  263 
Customs  duties,  266 
Direct,  total  of,  260 
Income-tax — 

Crown,  to,  formerly,  263 

New  proposition  of,  265 

Rural  districts,  in,  264 

Towns,  in,  264 
Kind,  payment  in,  262 
Land,  261 
Personal,  262 
Reform,  financial  possibility  of, 

267 
Stamp  duties,  266 
Traders,    of,   in   rural    districts, 

263 
Wood,    export    duties    on,     91, 

263 
Telegraph — 

Finnish  railway,  245 
Russian  institution  of,  244 
Telephone,  245 
Textile  industries — 
Cotton  factories,  131 
Hosiery  and  knitted  goods,  134 
Linen,  132 

Production,  character  of,  134 
Ready-made  clothes,  134 
Russian,  comparison  with,  135 
Tammerfors,    privileges   granted 

to,  137 
Timber — 

Bobbins,  139 
Export  of,  87 

Duty  on,  91,  263 


Timber  (continued) — 

Planing-mills  and   cabinet-mak- 
ing, 138 

Pulp  and  paper,  86,  139 

Saw-mills,  86,  137 
Torpholders — 

Crown,  under  the,  37 

Legislation  as  to,  27 

Payments  of,  26 
Torps,  26 
Towns — 

Forests  of,  92 

Land  bought  by  inhabitants  of, 

49 
Municipalities,  258 
Transport,  224 
Turnips,  57 

United  States,  comparison  with, 
IS 

ViBORG,     province    of,     re-united 

with  Finland,  43 
Village  communities,  24 

Watekways — 
Canals,  228 
Export,  used  for,  229 
Government's  interest  in,  232 
Importance  of,  for  lumber,  229, 

230 
Rapids  in,  227 

Wealth,  progress  in,  14 

Wheat,  56 

Women,  important  position  of,  287 

Wood  (see  also  Timber),  waste  of, 
82 

Workmen,  cottages  for,  51 


THE    END 


Printed  by  Ballantynk,  Hanson  «5r'  Co. 
Edinburgh  £r'  London 


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